What?

I got the camera out this morning to give you a crawling update.

Yes, they can crawl, it is the one-knee, one-foot technique that Jada displays here.  So fun to watch!

One of Jada’s favorite things to do it shut the door.

Adia does the same kind of crawl.  They both are pushing up on things now too…

 

Adia giggles at this new toy the neighbors gave us.  She loves her telephones!

So, my post was just going to be about the girls crawling. Then I saw this.

Jada found the lens cap to the camera.

She told Adia.

And they proceeded to share it. I have seem them pass toys before but thought it was coincidental. But this was no coincidence.

Jada would take it and suck on it and then give it to Adia, who would also suck on it and then hand it back.

I am hoping this trend continues as they grow!  :)

The Fair Has Come to Town!

The other John and Amy came up and joined us for the Free Fall Fair!

The girls liked all the colors and lights.  We played a few rounds of the mouse game.

Crazy enough, I won!  As I was considering which stuffed animal to choose for the girls, Amy won!

Both girls got a new zebra. I actually think we beat the mouse game this year.  We took their biggest prizes and left. :)

As we waited in yet another line for yes, more food, Jada tries to decide what she thinks of John.

The 4-H Fair happens the same week, so we had a lot of ground to cover!  We didn’t get to walk through the barns as bathtime approached too quickly!

We did get to see a bit of the draft horse show.

Yeah, 5 more days of fair to come!

One of my favorite games to play with little kids is “airplane” as it usually is a complete favorite and it transcends any language barrier.  Seriously, next time you can’t communicate with kids and you are dying to connect, lay on your back and get one to trust you enough and soon, you will have every kid laughing.

Adia was delighted with the new game…

Most kids never let go of my hands, but as soon as Adia was up in the air, she pulled her hands free.

 

Besides new people and crowds, I really haven’t found much the girls are afraid of.  I learned last night that apparently Jada has a fear of heights! We had lift-off…

and I could feel her little heart pounding.

Aah, much better.  Maybe “airplane” will never be her favorite game.  It is okay, one of mama’s favorite things is snuggling. :)

Happy Monday!

Ideas For What To Do On A L-O-N-G Afternoon…

Sometimes in our house, the afternoons can go kind of s-l-o-w.  Especially when the girls take short naps and I am excited about something in the evening. 

The weekend can’t officially start until Daddy gets home and the books have been read, we have exhausted the swing and played with all our toy…so this is the fun new game we learned at Grandma’s house. 

The Cheerio Crawl:

Rules: put a container full of Cheerios on the floor and start eating!

Hmm…I like this game…

Wow, sister’s hair is even more fun than Cheerios!

 

Practicing the V-Sit Reach

They both like the container as much as the Cheerios

So, that is what we do on a long afternoon.

What do you do?

“Umm, I could use a little help here, Mom”.

Adia is still working on the whole “cruising” thing…

Oh So Big

We had a doctor’s appointment and it confirmed what my back was already telling me, the girls are growing!

 

My Mom went met us because, these girls are busy! 

This is as soon as I set them on the table, going two separate directions.

Jada is 19 lbs 9 oz, Adia is 20 lbs 4 oz.

They jumped up in the percentile scale and are both in about the 50th!

On another topic…

Thanks to Ashley for researching the toy in the previous post.  It actually has a name.  Ollie!  Apparently they are hard to find now, no wonder because our neighbor told us that it is 34 years old! 

Poor Ollie, managed to keep his hair for 34 years and will be bald with these girls before he is 35!

I like the old school toys better.  I mean, I can sit on this thing and it doesn’t even flinch, washable, amazing.

Contrary to this, I bought the girls a toy they could push around.  This was my only option, but if there ever was a toy that was “over-educational”, this is it!  It is crazy.  See the number buttons?  They are actually a piano and have an animal on it.  If you push the five it says, “hear the blue dog bark 5 times”.  Whoa. 

less than a month later, it’s isn’t working!  Grr.  Let’s hear it for the good ole’ Ollie’s!

Community

Being from the country, we had good neighbors, but a neighbor meant something entirely different than an “in-town” neighbor.  In the country, anyone within a few miles radius was considered a neighbor. When I first moved into town, I didn’t know how I felt about sacrificing so much privacy, however, we have great neighbors. Honestly, I feel super-blessed.  Our neighbors are generous and watch out for us.  I have come home many times and found treats on our front porch.  Or we will be out and someone comes by with a little something, Enfamil coupons, baby toys, Texas sheet cake, fresh produce, etc.  We have neighbors who can tell the girls apart and come over as much as they can to visit them and chat.

This is an example of a baby toy we have received.  This thing is over 30 years old, in great shape, the girls love to rock on it and it doesn’t collapse if I sit on it!  Any ideas what it is?  We call it their “rocking thingie” or “the duck”.  We could use your creative juices in renaming it.

There are neighborhood sisters who are constantly making me scratch my head, cringe and then laugh.  I think they finally have said enough “funnies” that I can devote a blog post to them.  Let me give you a few examples.

Me: Hey H, is your Dad inside watching the game?

H: No, He’s POOPING!  hehehehe

 

H: Now where are your babies from? (they ask me this question probably once a week)

Me: Ethiopia

H: Oh yeah, that is in Africa, they don’t even know what tv is there!

 

In front of other adult neighbors,

M: How much did you pay for your babies?

Me: You know sweetie, people don’t pay for babies.  You can’t put a price on kids. 

M: I heard it’s lots of money.

Me: We paid money for a service, for people to help us find Jada and Adia.  Just like your Mommy paid a doctor so he would help her have you.  Does that make sense?

H: Yeah…So, how much was it?

 

And my recent favorite:

The neighbor girls were over…

M: Wow, your house is a lot messier now that you have babies!

 

Thank you sweet child.  You can go home now.  ;)

Sculpture Saturday-The Grand Finale

Yes, after today, we have made it through all the sculptures!  (I think).

They have officially been moved out of our town, so here are the last two.

 

And for the giant sculpture

Goodbye Front Porch Sittin’

Don’t worry, for all those nostalgic people out there, we still use the front porch, a lot, but now, we are far TOO BIG to sit with Mama on the swing.  No way.  We need to stand.

We wave at people and cars, and desperately try to pull ourselves over.

If you are passing our house, look for the tops of two little curly heads!

My Heroes

I had some appointments near my Mom’s and she graciously agreed to watch the girls while I got a bit done. 

The girls love to play at Grandpa and Grandma’s.

My favorite part of the day came near the end.  Mom picked pears for me at Chad’s house and then Jeff and Mom made bunches of pear baby food for our freezer!  It would have taken me so long by myself!

A Year Ago Today…

I went to Haiti for my first time.  We went with Loving Shepherd Ministries and saw a desperately poor country and beautiful land, ravaged by poverty and its effects.

But we also saw hope, lots of it.  We visited the Homes of Hope and talked with the godly houseparents, who have committed their lives to taking in orphans and calling them sons and daughters.  The contrast was incredible.

Each LSM Homes of Hope have 10-12 kids placed there. 

What makes an orphan not an orphan?
 

Food?

Clothing?

Education?

No.

A Family.

These kids are now in beautiful families, not related by blood, but brought together by God, no longer orphans. They are fed, clothed, educated and most importantly, taught about Jesus Christ…and they have HOPE.

One of the Homes had a child directed choir.

The boys standing are boys that had been child slaves before moving in the Kpoux Home of Hope.

Little faces full of hope with expectation of the future.

Since this trip, the nation has faced an earthquake and unprecedented tragedy. May God continue to bring beauty through so many ashes.

Currently there are sponsorship opportunities of a variety of homes, including homes with HIV+ kids, HIV orphans, and sponsorship to rescue exploited woman. If you are interested in learning more about Homes of Hope or would like to sponsor one by being a Hand of the Shepherd, visit http://www.loving-shepherd.org/.

Just When We Think The Zoo Can’t Get Any Better…

Daddy goes with us and we have so much fun!

We had tickets for a free ride…the girls loved the carousel…

until it started moving.  All three of us shared the tiger.

The up-and-down action was a little too much.

Happy Monday Everyone!

Results for the Salt and Pepper Poll…

Thank you very much, majority of voters, for supporting me in that the salt should have more holes.  :) 

All of the commenters were helpful in their logic.  Jon says that the pepper should have more holes because it comes out slower.  I say the salt should have more holes as I generally want more salt than pepper.  However, at our house, we have the pepper in the shaker with more holes and as I am too lazy to change all my salt and pepper shakers, if you are over at our house, be careful when you go to season you dish!  :)