He's on the Move!

Declan finally decided he wanted to move around! Here he is just days away from being 9 months old!!!

Blah Fall Days

Pumpkin carving last night.

At the pumpkin patch. Auntie Holly took some very cute pictures!

Enjoying the warmer weather.

Lilah took this picture of me. She's not a bad little photographer!

Big D!

Family photo. Its getting harder to get a decent pic.

This is Lilah's dance class. They all got to dress up in their Halloween costumes this past Tues. So sweet!

Lilah and Decs in her fort.

What is that on my lap?!!!

I guess its been almost a month since I last wrote on here. Time is just going by way too fast. We haven't really done anything blog worthy lately just the usual day to day things. I love fall but I don't love the rain:( Lilah does so much better when she can go outside at some point in the day. I started working out again! I will try to get to 3 classes a week and work on my bathing suit body because Mexico will come very fast! We are going with friends of ours in Feb sometime.

Lilah, well what can I say about Lilah? She still cracks me up all the time. Its amazing how the mind of a 3 year old works. She has been having more meltdowns than usual lately and I blame it on the weather. Her new thing to do is change her clothes like 50 times a day. Every time she comes out of her bedroom she is wearing something different! And there are clothes all over the floor. She always puts a dress on and nylons and emerges as a different princess. Last night Aaron and Lilah carved their pumpkin. She was so sweet and helpful, and did not like the feeling of the squishy pumpkin seeds. She also watched me make popcorn for the first time and I've never seen her eyes light up so much! She thought it was so cool. She loves going to her ballet class every Tuesday. She does so well following the teacher.

Declan is still such a happy boy! He LOVES his sister and his eyes follow her everywhere. He is still not crawling:) But neither was Lilah at his age yet. He's 8 1/2 months now. He has his 2 bottom teeth. He says "da da da" and "ma ma ma" "ba ba ba" and he can clap his hands. He generally sleeps 9 hours has a feeding and goes back to sleep for another 3 hours. He just can't seem to drop that 4/5 am feeding, and teething does not help. Thats all I can think of for now.

Fall Days

This is the bouncy thing at the Apple Barn. Our mom's group went there today, well three of us showed up anyway. It was lots of fun and the kids had a blast:)

There were no real pony rides there today so this will have to do.

Lilah wanted a little baby pumpkin and that's just what she picked. Except she calls it a "pumcorn". I think she's mixing up pumpkin and popcorn. I'd correct her but its pretty cute!

The girls loved the hayride.

The boys liked it too!

Playing in the bunny pen.

Lilah is taking a dance class Tues. mornings! Its called tiny dance and she LOVES it!

She also loves her outfit and would wear it everyday if she could.

Outside on a beautiful Sept day.

Kisses. Mercedes is the sweetest dog. She wouldn't hurt a fly.

Princess Lilah and Princess Farrah, best friends!

We celebrated Uncle Tim's 25Th birthday on Sept. 24Th. Lilah is so into birthdays nowadays:)

A little bit more summer

I was clearly ready for some fall weather but since we had a little more hot summer weather we took advantage. We drove to Jericho beach on Sunday with mom and met up with dad who was already out there. He was promoting our chicken for dog food at paws for a cause on the beach. It was a really beautiful day. A very long drive but nice to get out. We also stopped at Kits beach to play on the playground, but that didn't last long. We were all getting hungry so we went to White Spot for supper. On the drive home Lilah was singing and waving Declan's bear around and he thought that was pretty funny! He giggled away at her for a really long time:) It melted my heart. Lilah is very entertaining!

Aaron and I both have been having car troubles. His has been in and out of the shop for weeks now. They can't figure out why the brakes are wobbling, and the golf is having issues with the transmission. It has to go back to the shop on Thurs. Its a good thing we've been able to use Julie's car because she's in Australia for 3 weeks. We know we will probably need to get something a little bigger in the next while. The golf is just too small.

Yesterday Colleen and I went for her birthday pedicure:) It was fantastic! Then we went to Presto Cucina for dinner. Colleen's husband Travis came over with the kids to have dinner with Aaron. They picked apples from our tree and made apple crisp for us. I think this should be a regular thing;) Ahhh, I love a good pedicure!

What we've been up to...

We had a Neufeld get together yesterday. We got to meet Jacob, Andy and Cara's little guy. He's just 5 weeks old. Lilah was soo excited to see Sarah! They had a great time together.

Funny faces:o)

Lilah and Sarah. They were very sweet together!

Mama Flo and Auntie Marilyn. Lilah took this picture.

My cousin Lisa holding Decs and little Jacob. These 2nd cousins are just 5 1/2 months apart.

Decs and his best bud Keaton the other day.

Lilah has this obsession with blankets and hiding under them. Decs seems to think its fun too!

Brother and sisterly love!

Hanging out with the cows at the Russenburger farm.

Pretending to drive the tractor with Travis

This is at Hayward Lake.

I don't know what Decs is so excited about but it sure is cute.

Mom and Dad took Lilah to the Northwest Washington Fair! She had a blast and I had a whole day with only 1 child:)

She LOVED the merry-go-round. Thats one ride she's not scared of!

Popsicles!

Sitting so well in the bath. He just loves bathtime!

My little man is 6 months old today! Wow where has the time gone? I always say that. Declan is just such a good, happy little guy:) Lets just hope he always stays that way.?. He absolutely LOVES his food. Oat cereal, beans, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, and mum mums. He can't seem to get enough of it all. I will take him next week for his 6 month check-up and I'm very curious to find out what he weighs. He seems quite heavy. He has not been sleeping through the night the last month. I blame it on the 5 month growth spurt that so far has lasted a whole month! He is doing really well breast feeding at every feeding, thank goodness! The herbs and meds did their job.

Declan absolutely adores his daddy! I know they will be buddies:) He loves to grab and play with Aaron's face and hair. He has been sitting up on his own for almost a month now and he likes to play with his toys that way. He prefers that to lying down. He does not roll from his back to his tummy but if you put him on his tummy he sometimes rolls onto his back. I guess thats all I can think of for now.

Camping!!!

I assure you that's my beer not Lilah's;) So over the long weekend we went camping at Rolley lake. It was a beautiful campsite and it was huge! We fit all three big tents on no problem. It was a fun time had by all:)

Lilah, Farrah and Kayley plugging their ears while Colleen blows up her air mattress.

Stickers in the woods.

Coloring together. Usually doesn't last long!

Just chillin in our set up campsite. Time to relax!

Little Keaton! Oh so cute:)

Peeing in the bush. Yeah if one does it the other one has to!

That's about as deep as she willingly went into the water, and she's still smiling.

Walking back with our loaded stroller.

Drinking O.E. at the table. Hopefully they censor their conversation because Tyson is there!

At Hayward lake. I love how Keaton is peeking around Decs!

Bath time!!!

They were all pretending to be babies! Each in their own toy.
We had such a good time and the kids were all so good. It really was too short and I can't wait to go back there next year!

We have successfully gone 3 whole days now without ANY bottles!!! Yeah I'm so happy Decs loves boobie again:)

He's sitting!

He started sitting a few weeks ago for a couple minutes on his own! Now he does it for long periods of time without falling over. He's 5 1/2 months old:) Such a big boy.

Worst Week?

So last Sunday Lilah got a major fever in the night and was throwing up and very sick:( I maybe got 4 hours of sleep that night. She slept a lot the next day but was still sick. That night she was up most of the night and so was Declan with a fever! So that night I maybe got 3 hours of sleep. Aaron and I did what we had to do, Lilah in our bed, Aaron in Lilah's bed, Aaron and Lilah in Lilah's bed, Aaron on the floor in Lilah's room with Declan! Yea those 2 nights were HELL!!! (And so was the rest of the week) Anyways once Lilah's fever was gone the diarrhea began and lasted 5 whole days and nights. Poor girl, she pooped more in those 5 days than she had in the last 2 months. And she only had one accident! Pretty impressive. I took her to the Dr. on Friday and really there was nothing he could do:( I did get a stool sample to the lab which was NOT fun. He also let me know not to give her any dairy, I didn't know it bothered her tummy. I started her on the B.R.A.T. diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) and once that was all she was ingesting her pooping got better. So her poor little body lost a little bit of weight. She would be fine at times and than the tummy pains would come back. I could tell she was getting really frustrated and she would act out in RAGE and throw some major tantrums. Come Monday she was almost 100%! But it was a whole week of flu for her:(

Another reason why it was not a good week for me was in my stress, anxiety, lack of sleep, I lost some of my milk:( Declan started refusing to nurse at times. Since day 1 I never had any problems with breastfeeding and now all of a sudden I had to supplement because there just wasn't enough milk in there. Also my let-down would just take waaay too long for him. I think stress had a lot to do with that. I talked to the Dr. and he prescribed domperidone which I am on now, as well as fenugreek and blessed thistle. Seems to be working well. Yesterday Declan nursed all 6 feedings!!! The days before he would have at least 1-2 bottles. I also think he had a growth spurt this week because he was extra hungry all day and night. My good friend Colleen, who has taken a breastfeeding course, was incredibly helpful! She told me about breast compression which really helped, as well as lots of other helpful tips. She has some really good resources and websites. Thanks again Colleen for being understanding and nonjudgmental;) I'm really glad that week is over and I have my happy, chipper little girl back! Now I can look forward to camping this weekend!!! Oh and the last 2 nights I only had to get up once for a feeding. Ahhh sleep:) Even though its hot its ok because I can sleep in peace. Also thankyou to Mom G. for all your help this week and support! Aaron really enjoyed his time with you and Lilah too.

Standing by himself!

Sitting with sis.

He's so big already.

Having fun with Decs! Poor boy.

Summer is here! Well its been here for almost a month now but now it really feels like summer to me. I can't wait to go camping Aug. long weekend! Aaron set up the tent last weekend just to air it out, since its been 2 years since we last used it. Lilah was thrilled and kept saying "I love it!" I've started making my lists of things we still need to buy, stuff we need to bring, and meal planning. Can never be too prepared;) We still don't know exactly where we are going but that can be decided pretty much last minute. I can't wait to see Katie, Ian and little Aaron again! (they're camping too)

Lilah has been hilarious lately. She doesn't ever stop talking and has a very distinctive way she talks. You have to listen very carefully if you don't hear it all the time. I have to laugh at her when she is really trying to get something out she stutters a lot and says the same thing like 10 times before she can continue. She is also very mischievous but plays well on her own. She is using her imagination more and more and its pretty incredible what she comes up with. She loves her movies and I love that she now has her own TV in the playroom so that we aren't fighting over who gets to watch what:) She sleeps so well in her new room too.

Declan is still such a joy! He loves his crib and usually naps so well. He still has 3 naps a day and is down for the night by 8:30pm. He's been waking up at around 5am for some milk than its right back to bed til about 8am. He isn't sleeping so well anymore in his car seat or stroller:( He falls asleep fine but will wake up after 20 minutes and be wide eyed. He doesn't really like being rocked to sleep either he just wants to be put in his bed with his soother and bear and he does the rest. Which is really nice but sometimes I would like a cuddle:( He LOVES his rice cereal! He knows when its coming and gets very excited. I can't spoon it fast enough into his little mouth. I think I will try giving him some veggies soon and giving him cereal in the morning instead of at dinnertime. I can't believe he's 5 months old already?:( The time has gone by so fast. It makes me kinda sad to think that this maybe is my last baby.

7 Years!

Yesterday we celebrated 7 years of marriage! Wow time has just flown by! Aaron took me to the Phoenix for dinner on the patio. It was nice and quiet there and we had very yummy food. Aaron seems to think that this next year is going to be a good one so lets hope he's right! I love you honey! (If you read this?!!!)

Video

Aaron's mom took this video and it turned out so good!

Baptism

Today we watched my brother get baptized in Cultus Lake! It was pretty amazing and I was so proud of him! He gave a small part of his testimony and it really reminded me of when I was baptized in the lake at camp Firwood in grade 11.

The church he goes to "The Bridge" held their service lakeside and at least 15 people were baptized. The singing was amazing especially because it was Brian Doerksen who leads worship there!

Family photo including Nana. Notice my new do! Short:)

Mom snapped a pic of me. There aren't very many of them because I'm always the one taking the pictures.

It was a really good day today:)