Week 9/2- 9/8

News:

Clara is cutting a tooth! She hasn't slept all that great and chews on everything she gets her hands on, but other than that you wouldn't know she was teething. I can't see the tooth yet, but I can definitely feel it.

Landin has started phasing out naps. This week he only took a nap 3 of the 7 days. He still has quiet time in his room, but the sleeping has almost ended.

Landin has also become obsessed with being strong. Our milk gallons are on the bottom shelf in the refrigerator and he will carry it over to me and say "Mommy, I so strong. I a boy!" He does this with anything he would consider heavy. It's super cute.

Here are a few pics from this week:

These boys spent Labor Day working on Brian's car and fixing things around the house. Landin was so excited to work with his Daddy.

I will rock her to sleep until she's 18 if she lets me. Sweet baby.

Trips to Trader Joes are Landin's favorite. He gets stickers and a lollipop. Happy boy!

Snuggles with Daddy. All my favorites :)

I put up the pack and play for Clara to play in. She keeps rolling all over the house and Landin's small toys make me nervous. Every time I put her in it, Landin says "I sit next to her, please."

We went to visit Grandma Foster this week. He loved running around her back yard and playing with her butterfly bush.

We also played at the Hurst's house this week. Here is a pic of Clara and Cam. Yes, that is my big girl sitting up all by herself! She can't hold herself up too long, but she can hang there for a little bit.

Clara has started eating 3 meals a day along with my nursing. We added plums, avocado, carrots, peaches, and yogurt into the mix this week. She loves all the foods so far!

Landin has a hard time eating a meal. He is too busy to sit down that long, but to get his dessert he has to finish his dinner. He decided after his bath to come back downstairs and finish his dinner so he could have ice cream. This is him finishing his ice cream. Like father like son! :)

Snapped a quick shot of my Clara bear. Love this sweet girl so much! Cannot believe she will be 7 months at the end of the week.

Landin loves playdoh. He pretends to make so many things. I love seeing his imagination grow. Here is a picture of his playdoh watch and necklace. Today he made me a cheeseburger with ketchup. I don't even think he's had a cheeseburger before. Ha! :)

Every night Landin has to sleep with his monkey, kitty, and bear blankie. They are his favorites.

Tonight we had dinner at Bemaw and Pawpaw's house. Here is my Pawpaw and Clara. So sweet!

This week at Elevation Church we started a new series called "I don't know What I Believe." I had to post a picture of the new stage my talented husband designed and built. He's pretty amazing. ;)

Jumping on the Blog Bandwagon

I know I'm about 10 years late, but I've decided to start a blog. For many reasons, but the main ones are keeping up with the stories of my kids and giving my out-of-town family/friends a peek into our life. I haven't done the best job recording stories/ dates for my babies. I haven't even finished their baby books yet. (Shame on me... I know) I honestly feel like a blog is the easiest way in this chaotic season to keep track of the little moments. I also love that my out-of-town family can get a peek into our home. I wish I could talk to everyone a little more.

My plan is to do a week in review giving some pictures and stories of exciting things that happened. Some weeks may have more than others depending on what we do. I really hope I keep up with this because it will be fun to look back on. Life with a 6 month old and 2.5 year old is very busy and I want to remember it all!

I might add some Mommy tips. I know I haven't been a mom that long, but I jumped on the kid train a lot quicker than my friends from high school and college. I would love to help out and give some tips based on my experiences. Plus, I LOVE talking about mommy stuff. Pregnancy, nursing, newborns, babies, toddlers, and how to survive it all. It's my favorite topic and one where my heart is.

So here is this week in review:

Miss Clara Jane is everywhere and she isn't even crawling yet! She rolls all over the house and has started scooting a little. She really loves to roll over to her brother and play with his toys. I love this picture of her so much. She's getting so big!

Landin's favorite activity is playing with the hose. He waters (more like drowns) my flowers, washes the windows, the sidewalk, and his playground. Anything and everything. We've had to really talk about how we don't get water inside the house or on people with dry clothes. This picture he's just told me "It's raining!" (photo taken by Sarah :) )

We started feeding Clara solid foods a couple weeks ago. She has just gotten the hang of it. At first, she spit out everything I put in her mouth. Now she starts fussing when I haven't put food in her mouth fast enough. So far she's eaten bananas with oatmeal, peas, pears, sweet potatoes, and apples.

I LOVE this picture of the two of them. They really love each other and their relationship is growing. It makes my heart burst.

Landin has recently been obsessed with wearing Brian's socks around the house. He gets them out of the drawer and puts them on all by himself. He thinks he is the coolest.

I just started bathing the two of them together and I love it. It makes life a little easier, especially if Brian is working late. They love it too. Landin asks if he can take a bath with his baby. This week got a little interesting when Clara pooped in the water. I hadn't washed either of them yet, so I quickly yanked them out and moved them into my tub. Landin thought this was hilarious and kept saying "Clara, that's gross!"

I can't not talk about what happened at Elevation Church over the past 2 weekends. Over 3,300 people were baptized!!! I get emotional just typing that out. The life change stories were so awesome. I loved seeing the seats in the auditorium clear out as people obeyed God's call to get baptized. There were people in wheelchairs, families, couples, young, old, so. many. people! My favorite part was watching dad's lead their families. You can watch the sermons at www.elevationchurch.org.

Ok, I have to take a moment and brag on my husband. He and his awesome team BUILT the water projector. Not only did they build it, but did it overnight. It was seriously one of the coolest things I've seen and an awesome way to watch baptisms.

We ended the weekend with our friends, the Kingdons and Hursts, for a cookout. It was fun to talk about how much our life had changed in the last 3 years. Here is a picture of all our kids at the end of the night. Half of them are in their pj's. :)