It's been awhile

"Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world." James 1:27

Today..the big kids had Mom's Day Out, and sweet Maggie and I were home alone.  I had plans, wanted to get the house cleaned up...it had gotten a little disorganized and we just NEED some major organization to make this place flow.  So I fed Mags and got her down for a nap, and laid her in our bedroom in her bed so I could clean and not worry about waking her up with my noise.

I threw in some headphones, put on my favorite Pandora station and went to work.

Now our bedroom is on the other end of the house and I was focused.  I thought I heard her peep once so I listened for her, heard nothing, and went back to work.  I went out into the addition.  From here, without a monitor, I definitely couldn't hear Mags, but I knew she was sleeping so I thought I had a few minutes.  While I was out there I made up the guest bed and cleaned up the kids toys. I wasn't super quick, but I didn't take an hour or anything...

I came back in and grabbed a basket of the girls' clothes to put away and walked down the hall.  I thought I better check on sweet Maggie and went into my room.  I found her in hysterics.  Not an exaggeration..her whole body was shaking with sobs and she was wet from a cold sweat.  Literally clammy.  My precious, not even one month old baby, crying in pure fear (I imagine).

My heart broke.  I felt so so sad for her. I picked her up and held her immediately, looked her in her eyes and spoke as soothingly as possible to her....I wanted her to know she was safe and loved and not abandoned...though I am sure to her tiny self it felt as if she had been.

I just couldn't handle that I scared my little one that much.

Thankfully, Brad came home then and talked me off the ledge of feeling like I ruined her...kidding..but really...

But then all day I just couldn't get out of my head how little orphans must feel.  Or these sweet little babies I read about in the news that are abused and neglected.  My heart and soul were raw today just thinking that my Maggie was only alone for a few minutes and how scared she was at not having someone answer her cries...these children are left alone much longer and in much worse conditions than a safe bed, swaddled in a blanket.

I just feel like the Lord spoke to my heart today.  I don't know what that means necessarily.  I'm not sure what He was saying exactly..but He was definitely making it clear I'm not to be complacent about this.  About precious children who have nothing of what my children have. Those who don't know the love of a mama, or a daddy, or what it feels like to be comforted and soothed and protected when they're scared. What I do know - I have been praying for the Lord to reveal to me where I might serve him best in the coming years - and I feel like maybe it has something to do with this.  No idea what that will look like. But it has weighed heavy on me all day...so I just needed to get it out.

Also...baby Mags pictures. Coming soon.  Born 5/24/15 - she's perfection.

Christmas!!

I love Christmas!!!

You can probably read back over the last 8ish years on this blog and tell that.

Christmas is even better with these precious little loves in our life!

They were so excited (especially Noah) and had so much fun with their presents! I loved it.

Leading up to Christmas we decided to do "25 days of kindness"  as a family.  Basically we had a different service project, or gift for other people that we worked on up until Christmas. Each day they would open an envelope and then we would do the activity of the day.

CONFESSION: We didn't complete every single day. I think in the end there were 4 days we didn't get done...which makes me very sad...but also hopeful because that means 20 of the days we did do it.

Our whole hope for this was that Christmas would be focused and pointed on Jesus, and that our kiddos would remember that Christmas is about so much more than presents.  Also we are so trying to teach our babies about serving others and thinking of others first, and thought this would be a great way to do so.

It seems to have worked.  Don't get me wrong...we obviously have toddler moments.  But after a month of this Noah now pretty often tells me "we're thinking of others Mama," or "I need to give that to someone else mama, because we're thinking of others." So I feel like our message was definitely received.  Melt. My. Heart.

I hope we can continue this tradition each year. I think it was the best decision we made this year, and can't wait to do it again next year. And now...because I've not put pictures up of these sweet little loves in far too long..here we go!!

Witnessed suffering

Yep. Two in a week.

Insomnia has set in.  Actually, sleeping has not been too much of a problem this time, just more getting to sleep.  I would blame that on the daily naps though...oops! :)

The week has improved significantly as it has gone on.

I'm so thankful for that.

Our projects for the week have gone better, and Noah is so excited every day to open the envelope and see what he gets to do.

Tonight Noah and I took cookies we baked to the fire station.  I'm not a baker..which I believe has been documented on this fine blog...but they turned out ok thankfully.  I made Brad taste test them for us before we took them haha.

Anyways, after we dropped those off I told Noah I would take him to see some fun Christmas lights.

*note..I left my phone at home for this adventure*

*History: I have a history of picking up hitchhikers...and Brad and our family have assured me that maybe that was not my wisest decision,

So as we were driving to see the lights, on a backroad that was dark and with only a few houses, I noticed a car stopped on the side of the road.  I didn't think much about it, as I was on the hunt for the house I had heard about.  (Of course I didn't write down the address, or have my phone to look it up hahaha) Noah and I had decided that we clearly weren't on the right track and turned around to head home towards some other Christmas lights we like.  When we turned around, I saw the car that had been previously stopped driving away quickly, and a woman was waving at me.

I knew I didn't have a phone and Noah was in my car...but I just couldn't not stop. She said that her boyfriend was trying to beat her up, and had thrown her phone out of the car.  I stopped and shined my lights so she could find her phone, and offered to take her somewhere.  The boyfriend then came back and he kinda yelled at her and gave her her purse.  She got in the car crying and smoking..and I kinda started panicking.
My thoughts were something along these lines:

 Rachael seriously....she could kill you..
NOAH IS IN THE CAR!!!!
Please, Lord Jesus, Please keep us safe
What are you thinking?!?!
This guy could follow you!
What if he has a gun?
What if she does?
What if she's actually planning to hurt me and doesn't really need a ride?
YOU DON'T HAVE A PHONE YOU MORON!
LORD WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

Seriously. Sheer panic.

But then, my heart just broke for her. She told me they had been together for 5 months, she lives with the guy, he's gotten violent before, and how he's such a great guy he had just gotten a little out of control today after drinking.

Oh friends...this life she was leading. I just didn't have words of comfort or peace.

I wanted to take her to her mom's but she wouldn't go...she wanted to be dropped off at a bar in town..she was going to go back and meet the boyfriend once she "cooled off." She was convinced that since she was meeting up with his family he wouldn't hurt her...and I just wanted to take her to the police.

I didn't have words. I wanted to tell her about Jesus. About a savior who would love her and make her complete in ways she couldn't comprehend.  But the words didn't come.  We talked about the cookies for the fireman, and the Christmas lights, but I couldn't get words about my Jesus out.

I gave her my number and pleaded with her to call me if she ever needed safety. I asked her repeatedly to go to the police or her mother's but not to meet up with him..but she just kept thanking me and then left to go into the bar to wait for her boyfriend.

During all of this time, Noah was quiet in the back. So shy and taking it all in.  As soon as she got out he asked what had happened.  He asked who had hurt her and why we were driving her.  I talked to him, and explained to him as best we could that people are hurt and broken and need our love and help. I tried with what simple words I could come up with to explain that Jesus loves us and we love others....

But oh my heart.  Sometimes I take the peace in our life for granted.  I forget that this peace and comfort of a home with loving parents and more than we need is a gift and something that should be shared. I forget in the hard days of being home with my kiddos, and isolation of feeling lonely here sometimes, and the tired from the day to day..I forget to be open and sacrificial.

So tonight..I'm so thankful for the reminder. Also...not even lying I'm super thankful we're safe...because admittedly it wasn't my wisest moment. I broke down in hysterics when I was confessing to Brad because I knew he would not be happy with my decision to put Noah at risk...he was incredibly gracious..but I couldn't stop laugh/crying while telling him..Noah thought I was crying and kept trying to comfort me. Hahahaha.

Learning. Always learning here.

It is time.

It is time to get back to this blog business.  I loved having it to keep up with memories about life and our sweet little loves so I'm going to try.

Keyword...try.

Because I know me, and the tired truth of our days and that when those kiddos finally go to sleep I don't tend to want to update here.

But more importantly...I miss it. I can read through and have so many memories refreshed..so we're gonna try!

As for current life happenings...sweet Noah is 3 1/2...and Abbs is 1 1/2. How on earth they are that old and we have been parents for this long baffles me.

This current stage though...has not been my favorite.

I told Brad tonight that I think we had to far too easy for far too long. We're paying a little bit for it now. Year three has been tough on our little guy...not even the whole year..but the last three months. Abby girl is quite s personality, and we are working on molding that into obedience and kindness.  She is our tiny little instigator..and this is all uncharted territory for us.

So these days are long...precious..but long.

This morning in church the pastor mentioned delighting in our children. It wasn't the point of the message..but I was convicted in the moment. Have I been delighting in the sweetness of these kiddos lately? I don't really feel so.  I feel like lately the days have been long and hard, and I have spent more time disciplining than enjoying. When he mentioned that today though, I knew my heart needed to change. So I'm praying for a fresh and new start this week.  That tomorrow will be a joyful morning, and one where I take the time to enjoy my little loves and worry less about the crazy.

On a more positive note...
We have been coloring Christmas pictures all weekend..it has been a fun activity as a family.  Noah wants to color with Brad and I at all times.

We are also working on serving others this Christmas.  So we are doing 25 days of kindness in the Allison home.  Each day we have a fun activity to do for someone else.  So far we have made ornaments for friends, colored pictures, bought book bags for a women's shelter, donated toys, and made and delivered candy to our neighbors.  Now don't hear me say this like I'm bragging...there is no bragging here.  Buying those book bags and the ingredients for the candy was a whole new level of torture for this mama.  Noah actually yelled at me for the first time...and it was awful. But...this who process is refining me..and also such a fun activity for us all.  Each day they open an envelope that tells them what the day's activity will be.  I catered them to what we already had planned for the day..such as tomorrow we are taking candy to our doctor's office since we have an appointment. Easy, but something to get the kiddos minds on others.

Tonight..we had our first brush with Santa. We don't really do Santa here.  Early on we said we weren't going to do it..but we just haven't made a big deal about it. We basically just haven't talked about him. Naive ol' me really thought we would never have to even worry about having that conversation. Well tonight while he was coloring his Christmas pictures (specifically chosen with no Santas) and Noah started asking about who was bringing his presents. We told him we were..and he was determined that Santa would be brining his presents.  We kinda just dropped the topic..but now I know more of these conversations are coming. We're going to have to accept it and make a decision. Ha. Oh well.

And that's that! Have a great night!

I mean...NO!! But...Yay!!

In one week we will have a 3 year old.  T-H-R-E-E.

In one month we will have a 1 year old.  O-N-E. 

How in the world. 

Not possible.

But also so cool...because they are just amazing. Whoa. 

10 Months!!!

Our beautiful little lady turned 10 months old last week.  Oh my goodness I adore her.  I am WAY WAY behind on her milestones...so I'll write them out here.  Someday they may just make it into her calendar/baby book.  

Stands up and cruises on EVERYTHING

Pushes toys/stools/chairs everywhere she can

She has a new smile that I can't - for the life of me- get on camera.  But it is a sweet little squinty eyed smile when she's extra happy.  It's adorable.

Is so funny when trying to get her to take a nap.  If she isn't ready she throws everything out of her crib and then sits there in the corner of her crib.  She cracks a huge smile when I walk into the room.  It's like this funny little game we play.  We do this at least one nap every day. She just cracks me up.

But she's a dream to get to bed at night. We nurse. She goes to bed. Just like that. No muss no fuss.  

Don't get me wrong...because while she's the easiest thing to get to sleep...she is not great at sleeping out of her element.  Noah, by this time, was sleeping anywhere and everywhere. Closets/Pack'n'plays/guest rooms...he was not picky.  Abby rebels against that. She doesn't love having to share a room with anyone. To be fair..the last time she had to do so I was sick and kept coughing her awake.  So hopefully it will be better next time we try.

LOVES Noah.  As previously mentioned. But she will follow him everywhere. She loves when he does something funny...and promptly rewards him with lots of giggles.

LOVES bath time with Noah.  They splash and laugh and are just hilarious.

Says mama and dada

Recently seems to be nodding occasionally to my questions..so cute

Waves ...kinda.

Still two naps a day. But mama does not love when she chooses her early nap to be her longest nap.

Just now starting to be interested in food other than nursing.  She goes in spurts where she'll down to packets of pureed food but then complete push those away and eat only what I'm eating.  The last two days she has downed soup I have made.

A little tiny thing.  I haven't weighed her recently.  But at her 9 month appointment she didn't even weigh 17 lbs.  

She is great at playing by herself. We'll see if this lasts.  

She's just so wonderful.  The perfect 4th member of our family.  

Confessions

Inspired by a blog post my friend Ellen shared today on the FB...here is a list of confessions.

Sometimes being a mama is hard. But man do I love it. Here's our list:

Noah peed on our couch today. And the pillows. And on me.

I just started two sentences with and. I know that's not really correct. I'm going to do it anyways. And I'll like it. BOOM.

I truly dislike potty training.

Sometimes I feel like all I do in the afternoon is try to get Abby to take a nap.  Then I feel bad because I've missed out on time with her.

My oldest has taken to telling me often "You're not being nice to me" "I don't wanna" "I don't like it" and "I don't love you." It breaks my heart. I love him so much..and we are trying to hard to work on how he speaks. But seriously...where the heck do they learn this stuff?

He cries when he poops. So he refuses to do so on the potty.  I get SO frustrated with this.

I didn't clean my stove after we used it last night. It was seriously gross.

I've taken to only deep cleaning when we have guests.  This is a big deal...because well I love to clean. I LOVE it.  But I'm too tired to mess with it.

Speaking of being tired...I literally want to do nothing else but SLEEP during nap time. So I waste time during that time.

Today I tried to do my quiet time with my Bible while letting Noah have "quiet play time."  WHATEVER.  That was ridiculous. He ended up in time out yelling at me that he didn't love me and didn't want to play with me anymore. I ended up crying out for Jesus to help me.

I'm going to try doing it again tomorrow.  Since Noah was born I have always tried to do my quiet time when he was sleeping...so I could focus.  The thing is...I fully believe he needs to see me reading my Bible.  I also find that if I wait until he sleeps it just doesn't happen. At all.  And that's just completely unacceptable.

Back to the confessions...

I forgot to change Abby's diaper this afternoon after she got up from her nap. Brad commented multiple times on how saggy it was.  Poor sweet girl.

I'm so ready to be done nursing this time...physically...but emotionally I'm not even a little bit ready.

I can't believe a year has gone by since our precious girl was born.

Which means 3 years since Noah was born.

I'm training for a mini marathon but I hate to run. It's going just swimmingly - or horrible - but I'm determined.

Noah has watched so much TV this month I feel like a failure. But also..it's freezing cold outside, and I have run out of ideas for crafts/books/entertainment.

I recently started watching Parenthood on Netflix. It has sucked me in. Makes me cry and everything. I feel the real.

Brad had to cook his own birthday dinner...because by the time I prepped it and picked up Noah from school our friends were already on the way over and the house wasn't cleaned up. So I cleaned up while he cooked.  WIFE. OF. THE. YEAR.

But also...there are some fun confessions:

Abby loves to snuggle. I love it too.

I follow Abby around with a camera all day trying to get a video of her saying mama or dada. No go so far.

She LOVES Brad. So much. It's precious.

I love to do bedtime with Noah..because he asks me to cuddle him, we even have special "spots." We pray, we sometimes read books, we cuddle, we give butterfly kisses and eskimo kisses, he says "I love you so much Mama." I mean OH. MY. WORD. How precious is that.

I think my kids are the cutest things in this whole world.

Abby adores Noah...he adores her..and I adore that. I let him fake cough all through dinner tonight to make her laugh. She totally did.

I think it is so fun to watch Noah grow up. I miss him as my baby. But I mean he's just so smart and cute and I am amazed by him. The things he says crack me up.  His new thing is "It's ok mama, I'm just teasing." Or when he uses words like ottoman and tortilla - yet pronounces blanket as blanquet (like banquet with an l)

Tonight he gave me a pillow and a blanket because I said I was tired. He shows empathy when I'm sad. He protects me when daddy tickles me.  I mean. Melt my heart.

I am so excited to see Abby's little personality shine through more and more as she gets older. So far she's such a mellow little thing. VERY good at self entertaining. Sneaky (which could be trouble) and much quieter than I remember Noah being. Except when she's mad..because until Noah was almost 2 he was never rmad..so this is all new to us. She watches everything Noah does. She's a little stubborn but I'm hopeful that will turn into her being a strong girl.

That's it for tonight. I just...I treasure this time...we treasure this time...we love these little loves.  We're exhausted but gratefully so. Excited for what is ahead.

I just don't want to forget

These days are long.

But short...so very short.

Every day that goes by I realize more and more that we have these sweet babies in our care for such a short time!

That makes me a little a whole heck of a lot sad.

But man am I thankful for them.

Yesterday...Noah and Brad made breakfast in bed for the three of us. Sweet Abbs was still sleeping.  (Noah has recently taken to waking up at 5:30 am since we started potty training)

Anyways..while we were eating breakfast, Noah plops himself into my lap, gave me a kiss, and looks at Brad and says "Hey Daddy, I love you"

Just out of nowhere...completely unprompted.

The kid is just amazing.  He is so sweet, so tenderhearted, a total maniac, a crazy little destructor that I absolutely adore.

And Abby...sweet Abby.  She is getting so FUN! She's adorable, super happy, loves her brother, perks up and gets super chipper the second her daddy walks in the room, wants mama often and always if she is sad.  She likes her some music. She gets a huge smile and dances when there is music on.

I just adore them.

Just so many memories.

Sometimes though...I forget to cherish the small moments.  I'm working on it, actively.  I'm working on keeping the phone upstairs during the day so I'm not wasting precious time with them. We've done fewer social things lately - partly because of weather, partly because we just needed some quality time. I'm working on making memories with the kids, putting down my to-do list and just stopping to cuddle when the kiddos need it.

But somewhere in the 5:30 wake up calls, the baby deciding she wants to be held rather than nap, the toddler who throws silly fits for no reason, the colds that won't quit, the random fevers, the poopy diapers, the being peed on constantly while potty training..I just forget the joy.

I forget that God has given me the priceless gift of raising these sweet ones with Brad.

I forget to enjoy all the amazingness of these children.

I want to remember these moments.

I want to remember that we have the best privilege of our life in raising these children. We get to teach them, love them, pray for them, show them Jesus' love.  I'm just so thankful.

That's it...I just want not to wish away these days.

New Year...Back to the blog!

Oh my good gracious.  I haven't blogged since Abby was 4 months old.  BREAK MY HEART.

I'm a terrible scrapbooker..so this is where I keep memories to go back and fill things out.

But, it turns out....being a mama of two makes blogging a bit more difficult.  I have written many...but not finished them...so here we are 5 months later.

Since I last posted...

Abby turned 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 months old.  She's perfect.  She has a sweet little mellow personality.  She knows where she is comfortable..and makes it known.  She is EVERYWHERE.  I feel we'll have to baby proof more thoroughly this time around.  Noah was curious...but wanted to hang with me. He never was one to get into cabinets or anything.  Abby on the other hand...if it's just us at home...she's quite the little wanderer.  I find her everywhere...silently investigating everything she can get her hands on.  This smells like trouble...but the best kind.

Noah is almost 3.  THREE! Are you kidding me?  We have entered into a bit of a difficult stage as he has QUITE the opinions of so many things...but also..he's perfect. So crazy and loud, but also sweet and tender. He makes us laugh all the time. He is feisty and smart.  He loves his baby sister like I had hoped he would. I just love it!

We bought a house. We love it.  It's a home.  We're SLOWLY making it ours.  I say slowly because we have many an unfinished project around here.  But not due to laziness. I'm slow with decisions...so poor Brad doesn't know where to start.  On the books for the upcoming weeks/months: finish insulating the garage, paint the rest of the downstairs, hang curtains/blinds, pictures actually on the walls, maybe a patio out back, and begin the finishing of the basement.  But we love this little place we call home.

First Thanksgiving and Christmas as a family of four.  Perfection.

First Christmas in our new house.  Just exactly what we hoped it would be.

First house guests.  We've had Mom and Dad, Carl and Rosemary, the Peterson fam, Sarah and Phil and the girls, the Mehaffie fam, and the Sunnenberg fam.  I feel like I'm forgetting someone but what it comes down to is we love to have people stay with us.

In 2014 we are planning to head back to Austin in May, I can't even tell you how excited I am to go. I still miss Austin so much..and the people we love there..so I'm super excited for May! No babies on the horizon for us this year. Just loving these two we have and still figuring out being a family of four.  Hopefully we'll make lots of fun memories this year!

That's it for tonight! Easing back into the blog world.  Have a great night!

My joy.

So last night the boys went out and had a daddy-son date night and Abby and I stayed in and had a girls night.  Ours was short lived because it turns out my date likes to go to bed at 7:30 at night. :)

Anywyas...after doing this we definitely realized we need to do this more often, taking the kiddos out for one-on-one time.

It was the best thing ever, seeing Noah come home and be so stinking adorable. He had the best time with Brad.  The joy in his face, and the joy for me knowing that my boys were spending some serious quality time together. Be. Still. My. Heart.

He seriously was so precious.  They went to watch the monster truck show at the fair, which though Noah is OBSESSED with monster trucks he was not a fan of their noise.  I guess they left the show for a bit and walked around the fair, then gave them another try.  So cute.  After the fair they got ice cream on their way home.  Noah was so proud because his had m&m's in it.

I can't even begin to explain the sweetness of my two guys hanging together.  For real.

Abby girl and I had a great time too, but it was a little less eventful. :) But awesome.  Here are some pics! I'm beginning to regret not blogging more often as this helps me remember all the sweet times.  Think it's time to kick it in gear.

4 Months!!

Oh sweet Abby....already 4 months old.  

I can't even handle it. 

Really.  

But despite all my efforts...she keeps getting older.  

So here's where we are.  

13lb 12oz (54th percentile)

24 in (42nd Percentile)

Seriously, the percentages were that detailed. 

And yes, it has definitely been a month since I last posted...but well it's hard to post more that that with two kiddos.  FOR REAL.  :) 

Anyways...here's what she's been up to lately:

She is such a very happy baby.  I am in love with her perfect little personality

She shows it more and more each day.  

She's extremely happy in the morning...once she's up..she just smiles and coos all morning until her morning nap.  She very rarely cries...which is so nice.  

LOVES Noah. Still.  Finds him and smiles at him all the time.  Tracks him when he's close to her. 

The bumbo is her new favorite place. She sits with us at dinner every night, and Noah wants her to sit with him at breakfast every morning.  

She has a giggle that is just adorable.  Makes my day.

Rolls from tummy to back..and side to side.  She is SO close to back to tummy I think.

Loves when we dance.  She will smile so big when we dance together. (Been having dance parties lately because Noah is very into dancing currently)

Loves water.  Baths/swimming pools she's not picky.

Still a grazer when it comes to eating. She's so petite compared to Noah.  Like 3 1/2 pounds less than he was at this age.  

A wonderful napper..which is fabulous.  It took Noah and I a LONG time to figure nap time out when he was first born.  She takes a solid two naps and sometimes one in between the two.  But mama gets quiet time most afternoons as they both go down right after lunch time.  Thankful for that. 

But bedtime sleep is a different thing.  Don't get me wrong.  She's super easy to get to sleep, ready and down by 830 every night.  But she still wakes up once or twice a night.  I really count it as once.  She wakes up around 2-3 am.  Then wakes again around 5:30-6.  But after the 5:30-6 feeding she goes back down until 7-8.  I don't count that second feeding because I feel like that's practically morning.  Maybe I'm just in denial haha. I think bedtime sleep will improve when she's in her own room. ONE MORE MONTH. 

Blue eyed little lady. Who might be blonde? 

Holds her paci in her hand.

Loves to hold her toes. 

She is just a perfect little addition to our fam.  Seriously. We're in love with her.  

3 months old!!

She's three months old.

I feel like last night I went in to be admitted.  

Wonder if that will ever change? 

Time could just slow down..that would just be fabulous.

But she's three months..and she is so stinking amazing.

I feel like we really hit our stride this month. 

She is such a happy little baby.

Don't get me wrong..she's got some opinions...but in general this little thing is SO happy. 

Very into sitting up right now.  The bumbo is her new favorite place.  If she wants to be sitting up she will have nothing to do with the swing or the bouncy seat...but if you put her in the bumbo..she's happy as a clam. 

An easy little thing to get to sleep these days.  Literally lay her down on her tummy, put the blanket on her cheek, and she's out. So awesome.

Goes to bed right around 7:30/8 every night.  Sleeps until 2:30-3, then back to sleep until about 7.  I feel like she might drop that 2:30 feeding soon because she's barely eating at that time...but I'm not pushing it until she's in her own room.  One time a night is just nothing.  And she instantly goes back to sleep.  

Tracks us wherever we are. 

Really seems to be attached to Noah. When he comes around she smiles at him and follows him.  A couple of times I've heard her almost giggle at him.

She coos and jabbers.  Not quite as much as Noah...but oh man I love it when she does.  When I try to get a video though she totally stops.  

(Art by her brother)

Does not dig tummy time.  Girlfriend LOVES to sleep on her belly..but otherwise gets MAD.  I keep thinking she'll roll over any day..but we'll see. 

She scoots every where when she sleeps.  She did a 180 yesterday.  Little wiggle worm.

She's pretty go with the flow.  Which is good..because life is a little chaotic for us right now and poor girl has been nursed everywhere, be out late, slept on couches, other's beds, the carseat...I mean just a 

little bit of everywhere..and she handles it. 

(Loves to be outside)

She's so great. I'm so thankful for this sweet blessing in our life.  

Summer is here!

Summer has F-I-N-A-L-L-Y made it's way to us up here in Indiana.

When I say finally...that is not an exaggeration.  It was a mild winter, but it kinda felt like it lasted forever.  

But we're here.  And we're loving it!  

I'm so thankful for some new friendships here in Allison-land.  It has helped us feel settled.  We have been aching for fellowship here, and we are really starting to feel it and we couldn't be more grateful!

We've been spending time with a couple from our church, and a couple from Brad's work.  Both have been such great friends so us...they are so thoughtful and genuine.  We have so much fun!  

What a wonderful God we have that sets up friendships no matter where we go.  

So we've been spending lots of time outside, and lots of time away from home.  It's awesome to feel like we have a social life again.  

We're still on the hunt for a house.  No go as of yet.  But we're on the same team.  And that's a victory, and I'm thankful, and I know that when we are meant to have a home we will.  And if we don't find one..there is a reason.  It's a daily battle in my heart, but I feel like most days we do ok.  

I'm doing a women's Bible study this summer and I am so excited!  We are having a play date at the splash pad next week with two mom's who are very connected in the church.  What an amazing blessing to my soul it was when they wanted to set something up right away. I have wanted to badly to get involved with the women in the church. 

Along with that...I'm going to be a table group leader at Mom2Mom next year.  I am beyond excited.  I have prayed for a way to get in and serve...and here it is.  So pumped!  Anxious. but pumped! 

It's been a great couple of weeks.  Brad's loving his job.  We've had some more quality family time. Noah and Abby are just A-mazing.  And I'm thankful. So so very thankful for this sweet family the Lord has given me.  :) That's where I'm at today.  Here are some pictures.  

Abby girl LOVES to be outside.

 Noah grimaces when he says cheese.  Someday he'll smile again for pictures. :)

 Getting some cuddles in with Mimi

 And with señor Papa. 

And Nana...girl loves her some snuggles 

 Day 1 of potty training. Which was surprisingly successful, but we aren't there yet.  We need a solid week to dedicate to being home...and it just hasn't been possible yet. But I think we'll be able to make it happen here soon. 

 He loves to go "nigh night" with blankets. 

 LOVE. 

 Love to be outside. 

 Sweet babies of ours. 

 She is just perfect. I'm biased. But still. She's awesome. 

How it is already June.

I just wish time could slow down.  

But I guess they say time flies when you're having fun...and we've been having some fun so yay! :) 

We've been gone from home though..hence the lack of blogs...so it will be really nice to have a couple of weeks at home as a family.  

I don't have much to update.  We're house hunting.  We've put in two offers...so far no go.  One didn't get accepted and we walked away after counter.  The other we walked away after inspection unfortunately.  We L-O-V-E-D that house and everything about it (layout, location, size, yard, price - beautiful) but there were some issues with the basement..and we just knew we had to walk away.  It was a little bit heartbreaking for me.  I was already at that emotionally attached stage.  

But, I have to tell you, I have been praying hard about being content.  This is a battle in my soul lately.  I've written and not posted many blogs about the state of my heart...but basically they all come down to I have not been content.  But right about the time we found this house...I felt myself coming out of the pit.  And by that I mean...I feel the Lord physically dragging me out of the pit.  I've felt beat down and just a mess...but my God is so good and so faithful. And despite my ridiculously bad attitude..he continues to show me grace.  

All that to say...I started to feel like I was really coming out of this ick I've been hanging out in..but then  we walked away from the house, and I was so bummed.  But I am so at peace.  We both are..but thankfully Brad hasn't been struggling with contentment as I have.  But I know it was the right decision, I know the Lord will bring the right house at the right time..and I feel ready to trust His timing and plan.  And that's exciting!  :)  (This may seem kinda obvious..but if you had seen me the last few months...you'd know this is huge!)

So back to square one on the house front.

Our babies are growing! 

I'm attempting potty training with sweet Noah man.  We went 4/6 on potty and 2/3 on poopy today. That was day one.  So I was pretty happy about it.  I gave up after the last poopy if we're being honest. Last night was not a night of much sleep....I went to bed around midnight - Abby was up at 2, 4:30, and 5:30..then Noah was up for the day by 6:45.  So...not a whole lot of rest...so the last poopy did me in. Hahaha.  We'll see how all of this goes.  I'm giving it a solid try..if he's not ready we'll try again in a month.

I found two twin beds for Noah's toddler room.  We're going to paint them red.  I'm pretty pumped about it. 

Noah's been in the toddler bed for just under a month now.  He does great.  It has been a surprisingly easy transition.  He doesn't get up out of bed at all when we lay him down at night (usually) and at nap..sometimes I have to go in a couple of times and sometimes not..but he still naps.  The hardest part has just been that he's not sleeping as long or as late as he did...but that's ok.  And FOR REAL the sun is up at 5:30 here so it's not surprising he's up early.  Seriously sun - 5:30?!?!

Abby has become SUCH a smiley baby.  I'm i love.  I can't wait to hear her giggle.  She currently is sleeping in her car seat at night because she hasn't been feeling great.  Poor sweet thing.  She isn't sleeping very well at night so she's sleeping a ton during the day.  (a little discouraging since we were making some progress on sleeping through the night..but I think we'll get back to it!)

That's it..talk about a boring post.  Every member of my family has been in bed since before 9pm.  

I think it's time to join. 

2 Months!

Time goes so much faster on the second baby.  

Sweet Abby is 2 months old..and I feel like we were in the hospital yesterday giving birth to her.

She is such a precious joy to us!

2 Month Stats:

Weight: 11lb 4oz (60th Percentile)

Height: 22 3/4" (64th Percentile) 

{I just have to note that Noah was 14 lb 12 oz  and 24 3/4" long - sweet Abby is such a petite little thing compared to him}

Funny...we measured her twice because somehow last month we had her down as 23"...so we're throwing out last months 23 inches...she definitely didn't shrink.

So far..the start of her third month has been quite the bummer...poor little thing has pneumonia...but month two was fabulous!

Here's where we are:

She smiles at us all the time.  I LOVE her sweet smiles.  There is this moment where she recognizes us and right away she smiles..it just warms my heart.

She loves attention.  She can cry and cry..but the second I sit down and make eye contact with her she'll smile at me. 

She coos and jabbers.  It's adorable! 

She's a tough little thing.  I mean her brother is a little rough with her..and she just takes it like a champ. 

I think she's really going to be a little blue eyed baby.

Turns to our voices more and more.

Surprisingly seems to find me singing to her soothing.  I think that's one of the coolest things about kiddos.  Both our little loves like it when we sing to them and don't seem to care that we don't have the best singing voices.  

She's a tummy sleeper.  Against all that is in me..she sleeps on her tummy and it's working.

We're slowly but surely making progress on her sleeping better.  She's still doing 5-6 hour stretches.  The last two nights she has been ready for bed after her 7:30 feeding.  That's crazy.  But it is nice to have some time with Brad earlier than when we drag ourselves into bed.  :) 

HATES her car seat when we're in the car and not moving.  Even when moving sometimes.  It breaks my heart.  She's been doing better, as long as we're moving she seems to tolerate it. But the second we park or stop she wants out.  Just opening the van door when we get somewhere she almost immediately stops crying.

She really seems to enjoy outdoors.  She coos and smiles and just seems to love it in the sunshine. YAY!!!  

Recognizes Noah.  She smiles at him when he loves on her.

Holds onto me when she nurses, holds my finger when she sleeps next to me.  Precious.

Has her sweet daddy's nose...looks just like him from the profile. Maybe one day our children will have some of mama in them. 

For the most part a very content baby.  She is ok with hanging out in her swing/bouncer for a little bit while I get things done or play with Noah, she'll lay next to me and not have to be held now, the tummy troubles seem to have almost completely resolved, and she's just so stinking cute.  

But when she wants to eat...or wants her diaper changed...she means BUSINESS.  

She met her cousins this month..I'm SO glad!!  

She's just awesome.  We fall in love with her more and more every day.  She's amazing. 

I'll follow up with a picture post!  

Meeting Friends

Abbs has had quite the social schedule in her short little life!  

She's already met two of her besties. (Yep I used it) 

When I called both Rox and El to tell them I was pregnant this time they told me they too were pregnant.  Such an awesome surprise.  We were just getting ready to move back to the midwest, and come to find out two of my best friends here were pregnant with me.  It was kinda perfect.  El and I have been friends since we were 12, and with Rox since high school.  The three of us were all in each other's weddings.  We all had our first children within a year of each other (Noah and Nora are only a month apart) and this time we were all due within a month of each other.  

AND...we all had baby girls!  Manders also had a baby girl!! Dying to get Abbs and Addy together for pictures since we have them together of Noah and Rhyon.  

So getting the girls together to meet has been so precious to me!  We met Olivia back the first week of April, and then little Elsie came up to hang out last weekend.  We are very bummed because we planned a weekend for all three of us to get together, but I was a punk and bailed on the plans.  (But Abby girl's auntie needs to meet her too!)   Here are some pics of Abby and her friends!

Abby and Elsie (5 weeks apart) 

Abby wasn't real interested in a photo shoot.  

 With their older siblings...note Noah. 

 and their mamas

 Abby and Olivia (3 Months apart) 

 and their mamas!

We didn't get one of Noah and Austin together...too busy those boys.  But here are little man and Nora who are just a month apart.  I LOVE that Noah looks like he's the luckiest guy alive..and then there's Nora...who doesn't look quite as thrilled.  Hahaha. 

I'm thankful for these friendships and all these babies! Love you guys!