Disney on Ice

About a month ago Lucy and I went to Disney on Ice with her best buds and their mommies (who just happen to be two of my best buds!!) Lucy has never been to Disney World, or really any big event at all....we took her to the movie theatre once, does that count? :) Anyway, needless to say we were both SO psyched to go see the Disney on Ice Princess show. This was a really big deal for us to take her, mainly because it's expensive, but also because we don't want her to expect things like this. They are "special treats" as we call them. This was definitely a special treat for both of us.

The princesses before the show!

All six of us....so grateful for these beautiful girls in our life.

Pretty much everyone there was dressed up in some sort of princess outfit, but these three were, hands down, the most adorable princesses there. Seriously everyone kept commenting on how cute they were. Probably because they insisted on holding hands while walking, all three of them in a row.

I love this. The runaway princesses.

Lucy being a goof. I wonder if she's going to be a class clown.

This should be framed somewhere, seriously.

Big news!!

We are very excited to share that we will be hosting two orphan girls from Latvia this winter!! The Lord has really been working in our hearts recently and led us to a hosting program, called Project One Forty Three. The program sends representatives to orphanages in Latvia and Ukraine in search of older children and sibling groups who need to be adopted. It's a way for these high risk children to be exposed to potential families and greater increase their chance of finding a home. Right away I felt like we were called to do this, so we took a huge leap of faith and committed to host a sibling group. The purpose of the hosting program is to find these girls a forever home through adoption.

The girls are sisters, ages 6 and 3, and were abandoned by their parents. They currently live in an orphanage in Latvia. They will arrive in the U.S. mid December and will come live with us for a month, so we will have them over Christmas! While they are here, we are to love on them, let them experience life in a safe and loving family, and hopefully find them a home! While it is not our intention to adopt them, we are certainly open to the possibility. For now, we are just following the Lord's calling to host them, and will be trying to find potential parents for them. Please keep your eyes and ears open to anyone who is interested in adopting these precious girls.

We need a lot of prayer and support as we dive into this amazing opportunity! Hosting is a big financial commitment, one that we cannot carry on our own. But we know our Heavenly Father equips those He calls so we are trusting that He will provide! If you feel led to help us financially, shoot me an email at jannaelain@gmail.com and I'll give you more info. We also need girls shoes, a coat, and winter clothing, size 5/6 mainly. I have been told that both girls are small for their age so I'm hoping the 3 year old will be able to wear Lucys clothes, but if you have any 2/3T stuff you were going to give away anyway, then I would love to have it. I have no idea what size shoe a 6 year old girl wears, but if you do then send some our way! Again if you would like to donate clothes or toys then email me and I will coordinate with you.

Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare our hearts and home for the arrival of these girls. I have prayed over our home many times, asking the Lord to use it for His glory....why else do we have a home but to serve Him with? Why else do we have possessions but to share them?

We are excited, terrified, and hopeful. Thank you in advance for your prayers and support!

Check out www.projectonefortythree.com

Happy Half Birthday!

Annie is 6 months old today! Time really does go by quicker with the second one. I loooove this age. 6 months makes all those newborn weeks worth it! Annie is such a sweet, happy baby. I say that all the time I know but there really isn't any other way to describe her. She is just sweet all over. She goes to sleep smiling, wakes up smiling, talks and smiles while she eats, and giggles if you do something funny. She rarely fusses or whines. Even when she's hungry she does this half laugh half cough kind of thing....she is such a blessing and a constant reminder of God's goodness in our lives.



















At 6 months, Annie:
- is trying to decide if she is going to be on a 4 hour schedule. Some days she can do it, some days she can't. I'm letting her set the pace :)
- wears 6 month clothes and is using up her last few size 2 diapers. Which is shocking because she is quite a chunker. She was 16lbs 4 oz at 5 months!
- still has blue eyes!!
- has two teeth!
- has a dimple on her left cheek, just like Lucy
- loves her big sister










- can roll over both ways and almost always ends up on her stomach when she sleeps
- is a champion sleeper, taking 2 long naps during the day and sleeps 12 hours at night!! Every now and then she will take a little cat nap in the evening too.
- nurses 4-5 times a day, depending on whether she does a straight 4 hour that day or not
- is doing very well eating solids now and so far will eat anything
- is happy go lucky and very flexible. Although I feel like she is sleepier than Lucy was, so she really isn't that flexible when she needs her sleep :)










- loves to be held
- is getting more and more active and is content to play on her mat or exersaucer by herself
- is very social and wants to be where everyone else is...which is why she usually ends up in her bumbo on the kitchen table during family dinner :)
- does things in her own time, and doesn't like to be pushed or challenged as much as my type A firstborn :)
- isn't very interested in Heidi...she just gives her a weird look every now and then
- is so close to sitting alone!










I feel like she is such a typical second child, which must mean I am treating her like a second child :) She really is such a joy and I don't know what we did before she came along.










We love you more than words Annie Faith!



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Update

Our computer is still broken! I'm dying! I hate not keeping the blog up to date. Here's a little recap of the past few weeks....


We flew to Emily's wedding in Iowa! The girls did great on the plane, Emily was a stunning bride and Lucy was a fabulous flower girl!








Lucy has decided that a tutu and sparkly shoes are mandatory daily attire.








Annie is almost sitting!!



Promise to be back soon. We have a lot to catch up on!

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5 months old!

Happy 5 months to sweet Annie!




I'll give Annie a proper 5 month post soon. For now, suffice it to say that she is the sweetest baby on earth. Hands down. Seriously we love her, she's growing like a weed and meeting all her milestones so fast!

I have not disappeared from the blogging world, our computer crashed, or died, or something, and we are waiting to have it repaired. In the meantime, I'm taking lots of pics and storing up all of my blog posts in my head for when the computer is up and running again. Get excited, it's gonna be awesome.

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Lately...

Our computer is broken but here are a few pics from my phone of us the past week or so....


My gorgeous girl




Enjoying our new swing set from Big Daddy and Grandma




Spending time with sweet friends



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Annie is 4 months!

Annie turned 4 months old last week! I am really loving this age. Her schedule is VERY predictable now....although she has always been on a good schedule, it was more of a "routine" than a schedule, but now times are very consistent and I can plan my day around her nap times and feeding times. It's so nice! She is also much more interactive, smiling, talking, and laughing when I play with her. She had a really rough time with her reflux right after she turned 3 months, so we changed her medicine to Prilosec and it has been a dream! She has not had one single reflux/crying/pain episode since then! She gets easier and sweeter every day.

4 month picture!

You would think she's never seen a camera before...

At 4 months Annie:

- is wearing size 2 diapers, size 3-6 month clothes (although in her 4 month picture she's wearing a 6-12 month outfit); All of her 3 month stuff is too small!

- is going to bed at 8 pm, feeds again at 10:30pm, then sleeps until 7:30 or 7:45 am, although there are some mornings I have to wake her at 8!

- still has blue eyes, but they are looking more gray-blue lately

- is smiling and laughing A LOT! Lucy makes her laugh the hardest :)

- is rolling from tummy to back, and is SO close to rolling from back to tummy

- is still swaddled with one arm out when she sleeps

- is officially a thumb sucker! She wasn't sure for a while, but now she has decided to commit to the thumb :) We have taken the paci away since she prefers her thumb.

- is getting a TOOTH. That's right. A tooth. Lucy didn't get her first tooth until she was 8 months old. I have been suspecting teething in Annie for a week or two now (since she bit me a few times while nursing....) and I thought I felt something hard on her bottom gum a week ago. Well, yesterday there was a visible tooth! I can't believe it.

- is SWEET to the core. That word just describes her perfectly.

- is stretching her day time schedule to about 3.5 hours between feedings.

- still prefers mommy over anyone else :)

- loves to snuggle and be held. She is such a cuddly roly poly baby :)

- had her first solid food: avocado!

Trying some avocado! I don't plan on starting solids yet, but the other night I was making guacamole and I've been reading about how avocado is the perfect first food for babies because it's loaded with nutrients, so I set a little aside for her and thought I would give it a shot. She ate all of it! I just don't think she really needs the solids consistently yet....we'll see.

She loves her new playmat! (these things are expensive...but I found this one on ebay for $9!!)

It's very interesting to see the differences in personalities already between her and Lucy. I am loving getting to know her more and more everyday. Annie is such a sweet miracle from Heaven and we are so thankful for her!