Thursday, August 3, 2017

Happy 7 years, Sarah!

Here we are at seven years. Seven years since a baby was put in our arms and our world was changed. What a joy it is to do life with Sarah! She is helpful, compassionate, sensitive, and kind: a perfect big sister. As she grows, we find it is increasingly exciting to have conversations with Sarah (she has always been known for having lots of words). Her view of the world is curious and forgiving and I am regularly challenged by her sweet faith that what God is doing is a good thing. It is indeed sweet, Sarah!

Weight: 56lbs 2oz (73%)
Height: 49in (68%)
Blood Pressure: 90/64
BMI: 70%
Clothes: 7/8, M
Shoe: size 1 (out of the children's shoes!!!)

Likes: all things hospital, read-alouds, leading imaginative play, dancing, the familiar, sweet treats

Dislikes: being confused about the rules or expectations, having to work really hard, yard work :)

A day in the life:

7:00am: Sarah and Lydia stay in their room until wake-up time and usually come out together ready for some snuggles or pretending to be princesses.

Morning: Morning time is school time. We get started around 9:00 when Dave leaves for work and Anna goes down (hopefully) for a good nap.

Lunch: Sarah's favorite lunch would probably be a fluffernutter and green peppers. She is a good eater!

1:00pm: She rests/reads on a trundle in the guest room. At 2:00 she plays.

Afternoon: We reconvene to play and finish up any lingering school work.

Dinner: Typically we sit down together. Sarah often has lots to say and loves telling Dave about her day.

Bedtime: Sarah does her bedtime routine and then has about 30 minutes to read/look-at-books in bed.

Random, but fun:
* For her birthday lunch Sarah chose the local buffet and ate totally from the salad bar and dessert table.
* Her favorite subject this year was read-aloud time. When we finished a book she would write a narration page. I saw much growth in this area! Least favorite was her reading lesson. She said she is most looking forward to new read-aloud books.
* Over the summer we enjoyed many programs at the library and Sarah even won tickets to a local indoor water park. She also took fiddle lessons and swimming lessons.
* Sarah continues to love all things hospital and nursing. When we go to the library she heads straight to the non-fiction medicine shelf.
* Big milestones were getting her first library card and learning to ride her bike without training wheels!

Getting to match is one of their favorites!

Sarah received pink scrubs for her 6th birthday and wore them LOTS after Anna was born.

Nobody likes a well-visit as much as this girl.


Josiah was helping her try riding without training wheels.
Their relationship is still very special!


First day of 1st grade!



She spent lots of time on the floor doing tummy time with Anna.



I brought my own doctor to Anna's 3 month well-visit.
When our doctor had to step out during the appointment, we took a photo op with her tools :)


A science experience with our Classical Conversations community.

She and the tooth fairy are pen pals.
I love this :)

Her very own patient.

One of the braver things Sarah has done. It surprised us and she had a great time!
This is at the apple fevistival at Reed's Orchard in Owensboro.



I love when she writes her messages and thoughts.
There may be nothing sweet than misspelled heartfelt words.




Our friend Kim took Sarah out for Christmas.
Sarah chose to go to the hospital and Kim let her pick out a gift for a new baby.


Mary in our school Christmas program.

Her dear nurse friend, Ms. Meredith.

A special school day at Starbucks. 

Her first time bowling!

For Christmas we took Sarah to the Doc McStuffins exhibit at the Indianapolis Children's Museum.
She was prepared, stethoscope and all! 





She really likes to design her plate.


Meeting her little fiddle.

Sarah loves having our neighbor over to play.

Reading her Valentine from Dave.


PJ day at school.

Their first time watching Star Wars. 

A regular sight on a regular morning.


She worked really hard on Josiah's birthday card. It was really cool!



Our dear neighbors from the Cape.
They were so good to Sarah when she was little.

A friend from the Cape came to play for the day!

Sarah learned to ride without training wheels this spring.

First library card! She loves to fill it up :)


Last day of 1st grade.

At the end of lessons her fiddle class performed at the local Bluegrass Festival, ROMP.

Can you see Sarah?

They are building a restaurant next to Starbucks. We have enjoyed watching them build.



Playing at the circus exhibit at the Children's Museum.

Birthday morning!!! Dave made a "7" pancake.

I made a "7" cake.








Thursday, June 29, 2017

Happy 1 year, Anna!

ONE YEAR!!! One year with our sweet Anna Caroline. As one might expect, this year has flown by. We enjoyed flipping back through pictures of the past year yesterday and were amazed (again) at how much a baby changes from birth to six months to one year. It is incredible! Throughout this year when I think of Anna, and particularly of her role in our family, I think the word delight describes her best. She bubbles over with joy when her eyes scrunch up and she smiles. But even more so, she brings so much delight to her siblings. It truly is contagious in the best way, and we are better for her presence.

Weight: 25.9lbs (98%)
Length: 30.5" (91%)
Head: 45.5cm (67%)

Diaper: size 5
Clothing: 18 month/2T

Likes: dancing with mom or dad, tickles, putting bath toys in her mouth, having her toy basket next to her, putting her bow in her mouth, bath time, peek-a-boo, sitting outside to play

Dislikes: being a little hungry, standing up

Eating: Anna's main diet has stayed essentially the same, though the variety of food she has tried has grown greatly. She is chewing very well now and will eat bits of food from dinner or while we are out and about. [think bits of pizza crusts and french fries] I can't tell yet if she is going to be a little picky or if some foods are just easier to eat, but she isn't always open minded about new things. This is especially true if they are finger foods. All things considered, she is a big girl and quite healthy! At this point we have dropped one of her nursing feedings and will gradually continue to wean her. She didn't like the sippy cup, but decided a bottle wasn't so bad (for the first time this year). The doctor said getting her on cows milk was more important than avoiding the bottle, so we go slowly and be thankful she doesn't seem to have any allergies.

Sleep: We are getting some sleep- praise the Lord! She still takes a dream feed sometime between 8:30pm and 10:00pm, but she hasn't been waking up at night and usually sleeps until 7:00am. We are so thankful and all better for it!

Routine: An ideal day. We have had swim lessons in the mornings the last three weeks, so her morning nap has been scarce and on-the-go.

7:00 First feeding of the day
9:00 Nap
11:00 Wake
1:00 Nap
3:00 Wake
7:00 Down for bed
9:00-10:00 Nurse and back to bed for the night <--- still doing a dream feed

Communication: This month she added blowing kisses to her bag of tricks :)

Well visit: We had a few things to discuss at this mornings well visit. (1) The bottle v. cup issue noted above. We'll stick with the bottle for now. (2) Her lack of putting weight on her legs. We are still on the waiting list for PT and our doctor said she is definitely behind. At this point they don't expect walking, but they do expect a child to be pulling up and cruising. Anna has only pulled up a couple of times and only to her knees. (3) Low hemoglobin. Her levels were low at her 9-month visit so they retested and the results were the same. (I was taking supplements, so they anticipated that her levels would rise.) More extensive blood work showed that it is at the very bottom of normal range, so we are adding a multivitamin for three months and then retesting.

Next appointment: Friday, September 29, 2017 10:15am

Cook ladies on Memorial Day

A happy baby is a baby whose siblings hopped out of the pool and joined her on the blanket

A very sweaty day at the zoo on mom's back

Happy baby was delighted by the swing.


A rare pic of the whole fam!
We were at the seminary to run some errands and go swimming.

Lydia: "Can you make Anna get down on her hands so we can go?"
[Lydia is holding the other end of the scarf which she tied around Anna's tummy.]
Little sister or personal pet?

Our last night with our eleven-month-old.

My sweet, beautiful baby!

Much to celebrate!