Abbi's Blessing / Two months

On November 27 we blessed our sweet Abbigail.

She is such a good baby and didn't make a peep all through the blessing.

Every time Ben blesses a baby he is always worried that they will scream all through the blessing so he was very grateful that she didn't.

Standing in the circle with her Dad was her Uncle Mark, Oliver Clare (cousin), Grandpa Garry, Jeff Olsen (friend), Alex Weatherall (home teacher), Jeff Hoopes (home teacher), Bishop Harper and Brother Byrum.

I sure am lucky to have such a beautiful family!

I LOVE them!

All of our kids have middle names from a special family member.

Slade Benjamin after Ben and Madelyn Louise after my Grandma.

Abbi was named after Ben's sister Julie. She is such a great lady and an amazing example.

Julie is so excited to have a little namesake and we couldn't be more honored to have her in our lives to name our sweet baby after. 

Abbi and Julie

I am a little behind on a two month post.

Abbi is 10 weeks old today, but here are here stats from her 2 month checkup.

Weight: 11 lbs 14.5 oz

Length: 22 1/2 inches

Head: 40

Abbi is such a good baby. she is so tolerant. I feel like I am always telling her just a minute while I am getting someone a drink or wiping a bum. She will fuss a little and then just sit patiently until I am able to get her what she needs.

You can also tell by her weight she is a good little eater. She has some gas issues though. Poor baby! She will arch her back and cry out in pain and then just lay there totally stiff and her little tummy is so hard. It doesn't seem to matter what I eat (except dairy makes her REALLY cranky and chocolate makes her break out - Madie had the same issue... No ice cream or chocolate for me while nursing) and the only thing that seems to help at all is Gripe Water. That stuff has totally saved us! The doctor said that she probably has a little bit of colic and to just try to keep my diet bland.

She is smiling a ton now but I have yet to be able to get a picture of it.

She still has almost all of the dark hair that she was born with and she still has beautiful blue eyes.

We can't figure out who she looks like however I have been told that she looks like me, either way she is amazing and we sure love her and are grateful that she is part of our family. She is growing so fast!

You're it!

Madie has come up with a new game.

No it is not running around half dressed. Although her at home attire is a pair of undies and a shirt

(I pick my battles).

Her new game is this:

She brings me the camera, tells me to take her picture and then I have to try to take the picture before she runs off.

It is great fun.

The Man of the House

Before Ben leaves for work he always reminds Slade that while Dad is gone he is the Man of the House and that he has to take care of the girls. Slade loves it. He reminds us that he is the Man of the House repeatedly the entire time that Dad is gone.

Ben also tells him to keep an eye on Mom because she is trouble. Whenever Slade talks to Ben he reports back that Mom has stayed out of trouble and that he is keeping his eyes on her. Then he asks if Levi (Ben's friend and boss) is staying out of trouble in North Dakota and if Dad is keeping his eyes on him.

He loves having a job to do while Dad is gone. Toward the end of the two weeks Ben will always tell Slade that he can think of something that he wants to do - Just him and Dad - and they will do it when Dad gets home. He tells Slade it is his reward for keeping the girls in line, because Dad knows how big of a job that is. So far Slade has choose to go shooting both times.

This Man of the House sure does a great job watching out for us and us girls are so happy we have him.

We love you dude!

Scaredy Cat

I don't know what my problem is... I am scared in my own home.

Before Ben left for work this past week I had him install some chain locks on our doors. I told him that it was because both kids can unlock the doors and Madie keeps trying to sneak out, but really it is also because I am scared here alone.

Last night I tried to go down to the road to pull the garbage can in... It is still on the street now. I got as far as the gate on the fence, freaked out, ran back to the house, slammed the door and frantically locked the door.

I did not even attempt to try to get Madie to sleep in her own bed. I just told her to go crawl in my bed. Abbi is still in our room anyway and Slade was with his mom.

The last time I was here alone at night was when he was gone before Abbi was born. I wasn't scared, I could go outside at night, I could let my kids sleep in their own beds. I guess I thought at nine months pregnant I could handle anyone or anything that tried to mess with me.

I know I am a huge freak. I am a grown mother of three and I am afraid in my home.

Now what?

Happy Halloween!

The kids had such a great Halloween.

Ben took Slade and Madie trick or treating with their cousins and some friends.

Abbi and I hung out at Grandma's house.

A Marine

A Giraffe

and a Puppy

All three together... So cute!

And the best part... we didn't spend a dime on costumes.

One Month Already

I can't believe this little angel is a month old already. Time is going to fast.

two and a half weeks old

Abbi is such a sweet baby.

She is so content the majority of the time, which is good considering that her brother and sister are both very needy all the time.

She sleeps best during the day when there is tons of noise. At night when everything is quiet she thinks she should be awake.

She eats really well and thinks that whenever she is awake she should be eating.

At her 2 week well check she weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces and was  20 1/4 inches long.
At birth she was 6 lbs 13 ozs and 19 1/4 inches long.

She is definitely a Mama's girl.

We sure love this sweet little girl!

Madie is 3!

I can't believe that my baby is 3 years old already...

ok I am a bit behind, her birthday was actually on October 3.

It seems like just yesterday she was born and I was holding her in my arms, now she is so big and so capable of doing things for herself.

A few things about Madie...

• She loves to color.
• She is starting to get into dress up. Grandma got her some princess dress up shoes, she wears them all the time and calls them her 'tappy shoes'.
• Every morning before anything else she asks for her 'chocolate chip' (chocolate milk).
• She thinks her sister is very cute but is not at all interested in helping with her. She refuses to put Abbi's paci back in her mouth and gets really annoyed with Abbi when she cries. She does however run to get me when she thinks that Abbi needs me.
• She hates to wear cloths. At home her normal wardrobe is a shirt, a diaper and her tappy shoes.
• She loves to sit on the toilet and play with toilet paper. She will sometimes sit there for 45 minutes singing and folding one square of toilet paper.
• She still hates to sleep in her own bed and insists to sleep with Mom and Dad.
• She eats just about anything that we put in front of her.
• She wants to do everything herself.
• She is starting to like Barbies.
• She loves to ride the rocking horse that her Grandpa built.
• She misses her Daddy terribly when he is gone to work and loves to talk to him on the phone.
• She is a screamer! It is loud and high pitched. She has apparently been doing it long enough though that Abbi recognized from inside my belly, she is not even phased but it.
• She has no volume control. All through church she talks at a normal volume no matter how many times she is asked to be quiet.  

We sure love our little Lous.

Happy Birthday Sweet pea!