Wednesday, December 10, 2008

We are growing and changing!!!

Ms. Rebekah Marie has been quite the silly little girl. She has learned the new trick of rolling from her tummy to her back. She starts crying when she hits her back because she wants to be on her tummy and roll over. She is fine if you put her on the floor on her back, but if you put her on her tummy, you better be ready to keep flipping her back over. She is full of whole face grins. She has started to "talk" and has a very girly voice. Her eye-hand coordination is amazing. She will look straight at her toy, reach up and grab onto it. She bats at toys that are around her too. Every morning she is full of smiles when we wake her up. When she is unwrapped from her swaddle, she stretches like a big girl and pretty much does a back bend on her crib. This morning when daddy went in to give brother his pacifier, he found Bekah at a 45 degree angle. Picture this, she is swaddled tight, laying in a sleep positioner. She has moved her head from where it was, all the way to the crib rails with her forehead pressed against the rails(left a dent for a little while). Her feet are now kicking her brother in his legs. She is quite the mover. She is also trying to roll herself over while she is in the swing. She likes to have her face snuggled into a blanket (or even the crib rails). Bekah still doesn't have much hair, and the hair she does have is a mixture of blonde, red and light brown.

Mr. William Glenn is our vocal man. He always has something to say and will often crack himself up. He will sit in his chair or lay on the floor and "talk" to his toys. When you talk to him, he gives you a huge grin and shys his face away. His cackle is to die for. Last night at bath time, I showed him how to move his legs in the tub. This was a bad idea. He kicked so much that water hit me in the face, was all down my shirt and ended up all over the floor. I couldn't stop laughing and so he started laughing. This created a crazy circle of laughs. Neither one of us could stop. He doesn't mind if the water gets into his eyes, but he sputters if it ends up in his mouth. He thinks that everything mommy and daddy does is funny. When we dry him off from his bath, he laughs as we rub the towel on him. His favorite part is when you dry his hair. His hair is starting to come in more and it looks dark brown/black. Such the handsome little man. Billy is the calm baby and is very relaxed. He loves watching football with daddy and listening to mommy and daddy play rock band. He gives quite the look to Bekah when she is crying and he is trying to sleep. Billy loves to sleep and could sleep all day like daddy if you let him. He has a whole face grin that is to die for and an Elvis smirk that is hilarious. He loves his pacifier and is instantly calm when you give it to him. If he doesn't have his pacifier, he tries to shove his fist into his mouth to chew on. Some days we think he just might get it all in there.

Reflux is starting to become more manageable. They each get their dose of Prevacid first thing in the morning. They are starting to do better with taking their meds. I think their med was mixed differently this time and was a little better flavored. We aren't going through quite as much laundry, only about 1 load every other day to every day. Before it was 1-3 loads daily.

Mommy and daddy are getting into a good routine with the kids and household chores. We each do our part to keep the house running and to stay sane. It isn't easy, but we take it in stride. The kids love their sitter and we love her just as much as they do. It is such a blessing to have such a wonderful person take care of our kids. Someone who has adopted them as their own and loves them like we do. We don't know what we would do without her, she is such a God send.

Kaylee has finally adjusted to life with a brother and sister. At first she didn't really like sharing her mommy and daddy time, now she knows when the kids go to bed it is kaylee time. She loves it when we get home every day. She runs and greets the kids still in their car seats. Some days she even gives them kisses. The kids think she is pretty cool too.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We were able to spend it with Brent, Deb, Grandma Heldt, Bob, Erica and Jen (a friend of Erica's from college that lives down here). We had a blast playing and laughing together. Grandmas and Grandpa were able to enjoy play times, bath time and feeding times with the kids. They got to share a bunch of fun times with us. We have a bunch of fun memories of our time together.

Our Christmas tree is set up and ready to go. A few days after we set it up, the kids started to notice the lights. They now look at it in awe and stare at the lights. Kaylee wasn't sure what to think when we started decorating the house. We had all the boxes out and were unpacking things and she seemed to be unsure of what was happening. When things were all put away, she was much happier. We keep soft ornaments at the bottom of the tree, because Kaylee doesn't have control over her built in whip. If she does, and has us fooled, she doesn't demonstrate control. :)

Bill and I find our selves staring at the kids in awe. They look like angels when they sleep, crack us up when they laugh, make us smile when they smile, and break our hearts when they are sick. Parenting has brought its share of concerns and questions, but it has also brought us the greatest blessings. We are so thankful for our two little miracles. We miss all of our friends and family in Michigan. It is hard being so far away from everyone.

We are looking forward to our first Christmas as a family. We are anticipating visits from family around Christmas and the months after. This Christmas has changed me. I look at the holiday differently as a mother. I think about what I want the kids to know about Christmas and what traditions I want to share with them. Bill and I are going to continue our tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve (Christmas pjs) with the kids. I'm in search of the Christmas story in a children's book form to read on Christmas day with the kids. When they are older, I want to read it straight from the bible. I want to teach our kids the joy of giving to others and how the holidays are all about family and being thankful of everything we have.

We hope that everyone is doing well and that you have a wonderful Christmas with your families. God Bless!

The Brands
Bill, Karrie, Bekah, Billy and Kaylee

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