Sisters :)

...and fun with Dad. :)

Silly Girl :)

I was trying to get a cute, smiley picture of Lyla to send to my mom, and this is what I got! What a silly little squirmy-worm.

Tummy Time

Pearlie is getting stronger all the time!

This is Lyla and Pearl and their sweet little friend Erica, at church. :)

Home for Sale!

We put our house up for sale! If you know anyone who may be interested, let me know! We want to move back to La Crescent. :)

Vids of LJ

Lyla started saying "banana"!

She's dancing to her favorites--The Wiggles. :)

Catch Up

Been awhile since I've blogged...these two little girls sure keep me busy! Loving being a mama. :) Here's a catch-all, catch-up post.

Lyla is doing pretty well on the potty. We try to put her on there after meals as often as we can. She has had success several times! We are hoping that she starts to figure it out, and that she'll learn to communicate to us when she needs to go. I have been praying for a long time that Lyla will eventually be potty trained!

Pearlie with her busy little hands. :)

With the awesome weather we've been having, Joel and I got a chance to go out on the river fishing! Fun to have time just with my sweetie. (Grandma had the girls-thanks Carol!)

Here is my sweet niece Naomi. She is playing the piano that we had growing up. That is the piano I learned to play on, and took 8 years of lessons on! I am so glad it is staying in the family, and I hope my 3 nieces will be able to learn to play on it too. I guess Naomi really likes it already! Please keep Naomi in your prayers. She is my youngest niece who is behind developmentally, but the doctors really cannot find anything wrong. She started crawling about a month ago, which was an awesome milestone! I think she just has her own little timeline, and I am praying that she will just catch up. I know that it is stressful for my brother and sis-in-law to not have any answers. They continue to trust the Lord in her development.

And here is my beautiful Aunt Rita and my beautiful Grandma Anita (Gramma Nita). If you think of it, send up up a prayer for them too! My Aunt Rita is battling breast cancer and my grandma is battling multiple myeloma (a type of bone cancer). Don't they look great though? You'd never know their health struggles by looking at them! Love you both so much!

And one more of the Pearlie girlie :)

She is such a sweet little girl. She sleeps through the night every night now. She is really starting to like toys--reaching for them and batting at them intentionally. She will play on her own for a half hour! She loves her sister and even smiles at her. She does a lot of full-faced smiling now, and we love it! She also fi ds her fingers and likes to suck on them--maybe she'll be a finger-sucker like her sister was. I think she is looking more and more like her daddy. :)

And that's all for now!

Visit

We had such a nice visit with Joel's aunt and uncle the other day. Pearl got to meet them for the first time! :)

Aunt Colleen

Lyla loved their dog!

Uncle Daniel

2 months old

Pearl turned 2 months old on the 26th! She had her 2 month check-up yesterday. She now weighs 9 lbs 10 oz. She's in the 50th percentile for length and head circumference, and she's in the 15th percentile for weight! The doctor was very pleased with her growth and development. Also, he and the nurses who checked Pearl in commented on what a sweet temperment she has. We are so thankful! It's kinda different to have a typical kid! We are enjoying her so much, and so is Lyla. :) Pearl got 3 shots yesterday and really did well--didn't get a fever and really wasn't fussy during the rest of the day unless I accidentally put pressure on her legs where the shots went in. :( She's all better today though! PTL! Here's some vids of her during play time.

More fun, more pics

I love how they're checking each other out. :)

Fun at the Children's Museum

The girlie-whirlies :)

A sweet Pearlie smile :)

Lyla loves Pearl's hands...

...and feet!

Pearl in her bumbo chair for the first time. :)

She holds her head up like a champ!

Grandpa John playing with his Lyla Jane

Lyla has been saying a few more words lately. She doesn't necessarily say them consistently but we're just glad she's saying stuff! Yesterday she said "all done" very clearly, and she is starting to say "no". Her teacher and her helper at school also caught her saying "no" a few times too! She is also doing such a good job of getting herself up into her walker and then taking off on her own. I love that she is becoming more independent. We are starting to try a potty chair with Lyla too. She went #1 in there once and #2 in there once. We were so amazed and proud of her! I'm not sure if she really gets it yet but I feel like it might be starting to click. We just put her on the potty after meals and hope for the best. It may take awhile but I think she'll get it--at least we're praying she does! New things every day with our amazing little Lyla. Praise the Lord!

Pearl is just as sweet as can be. She is doing just great at nursing and is really establishing a good schedule I think. Four times she has slept from 11pm to 7am which has been wonderful for me! Sleep is good. :) She is smiling and cooing more and more every day, and her head control seems to improve every day as well. Amazing how quickly she is growing and changing. We praise the Lord for our Pearl!

Lyla and Pearl are really starting to make a connection. Pearl likes to look at Lyla's face, and Lyla will crawl over to Pearl if she's crying and take her hands and smile at her. Lyla gets really sad if we have to take Pearl away from her. It is so sweet--melts my heart.

Valentine

Here's the very special Valentine that Lyla made for us at school!

Cookie!

Lyla is having sort of a "verbal explosion" lately. As you see here, she said cookie! She has been trying to say several words lately--she has said Pearl, ball, gentle (she says something like "juju" for gentle and always says it when she's near Pearl because we tell her to be gentle so often!), and she says dada and mama much more pointedly and at the appropriate times. We are praising the Lord for all the progress she is making!

Oddly enough she also managed to pronounce the Hawaiian state fish as well--the humuhumunukunukuapuaa. :) :) :)

Sisters :)

Pearl is becoming enthralled with her big sister!

Pics & Vids

Fun in the snow :)

Little Ziggy--peek-a-boo!

Mark & Karn with the Pearlie girl :)

Lyla checking out her sister's tiny hands

She's growing and changing every day!