Project 52: week twelve

September 14-September 21

ASU played Wisconsin at home on Saturday.  Raelynn wanted to go SO bad.  She had even packed her little backpack with her pom pom and "emergency" pull-up.  But Daddy thought she better stay home this time.  Now I just hear "There will be another game for Raelynn."

She was sure to watch the game on the ipad though (we don't have ESPN but are able to stream it online) and of course she wanted to wear her ASU shirt too.

And you know she is her daddy's daughter when later in the week she touches the ESPN app on the ipad and says "I want to watch ASU"  :) 

Elliana is EVERYWHERE!  She has learned to 'scoot' and does her little army crawl all over the house.  She is very interactive with toys now and is putting everything in her mouth.  She is frequently gagging because she has a piece of the shag carpet in her mouth.  The other day she actually had the corner lifted up and was chewing on it. 

Yep, getting into everything!!  It is now her turn to learn what 'no touch' means. :)

Elliana has learned to give kisses! They are ADORABLE.  She sticks her tongue out to give us a little lick:)

Last week (week eleven) was a hard week.  We felt like we had taken some steps back and Elliana was having a hard time with some things.  I am thankful to report that this week's update is a complete turn around!  She had started to refuse to eat when we were spoon feeding her.  It was frustrating for both her and us.  It resulted in lots of tears.
This week she is back to eating well again! It is just a blessing from the Lord because even though it was a hard time, in hindsight we see it was a opportunity and testing He gave us to show we are faithfully trying to raise her according to His Word. He reminded us of His faithfulness when she would fall into us and grasp on to us so tightly for comfort and when we began to see the fruit of the labor.  He gave us such an encouragement when we needed it.

She LOVES clapping! And after each bite we would get excited and say good job and build it up big with clapping.  So, of course she joined in too:) 
(And now every time she hears the words 'good job' she claps:)

Thankful for happy meal times again.  Still trying to figure out her eating habits and schedule makes things hard. But sometimes, she just isn't hungry when we want her to be.  And other times, when it isn't quite convenient, she wants to eat.  I'm learning I need to be ok with that:)

Raelynn just can't get enough of her sister and brother.  She is my little helper.  Well, actually she refers to herself as "The Big Helper" :)  She is always in the action of whatever is going on.  And if nothing is going on, then she is creating some action for us.




 

I come back from putting Elliana down for a nap and find her doing the dishes!! I hope she is still this eager to help when she can actually wash:)

She loves pushing Elliana around! Never a dull moment:)

 

 

Raelynn is also really into dressing herself.   She especially likes wearing her brother and sister's clothes. Silly girl:)

 Declan was still sick into the beginning of the week. He was on a clear liquid diet then progressed to clear liquid and the BRAT diet.  I can assure you, he is quite sick of toast and applesauce!  The bananas however, seems to be all he wants to eat.  He has now figured out where we keep them and will go to the counter and point.  The smile you get from him when you ask "Do you want a banana?" is priceless:)  He is now 14 months old!

The doctor told us to start bringing in foods one at a time again. We feel so bad for him because he can't enjoy good foods but yet he doesn't even seem to have an appetite when we do offer a non-BRAT food to him.

He did break out in hives this week after having strawberry jello then again the next day after having two strawberries.  So as we wait for his GI specialist appointment on October 24, we are trying to play doctor and figure out what is bothering his system. 

 

 

He has been soooo cuddly this week! And the poor kid is losing weight because he feels much lighter to carry.

 

 

Declan loves playing peek-a-boo and this week he learned 'All Done' in sign language!  I was actually trying to teach Elliana and he picked up on it.  He claps for 'more' and folds his hands for 'please' so we are working on those:)

 

 

Never crawls anymore!

 

 

Playing together!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daddy had some big helpers and little helpers while working on the back yard this week.  Grant and Garrett came to help till and dig on Thursday.  The little helpers supervised on Friday while Daddy finished up.

 

 The sprinkler system is in and buried! Next grass seed will be planted.

 

 

 On Saturday, Sept 21 we had an event in our community park.  It was a big let down for us because it wasn't quite what we thought it would be.  It was advertised as 'bringing the zoo to you' but the only animals were rodents in a cage! Oh, and let's not forget the cockroach!  But the first thing Raelynn said when we got in the house was "THAT WAS FUN!" and she was sure to thank us.  So that is all that mattered!
Jackson and Harper came too!

 

There was this cool bubble machine.  And by cool I mean super messy and I was maybe a little glad it shut off just as we got to it! :)

And for a safari, we had to dress in zebra print!

 They really were giving great smiles....I just didn't capture them!