Ilya's Room

It's hard to believe lil Ilya is six weeks old already. Thank God she is still little. I enjoy her so much!

Wearing our MSU gear proudly! They might just be the cutest Spartan fans ever!

Ilya enjoying her bath with Aunt Becky. 

Bellie relaxing with Aunt Rae. 

Sunday afternoons are spent watching football and eating good food with the family. Oh, and napping. 

My girls. I have girls! Plural. Awesome!

I gave my boy a haircut. He looked so big wearing plaid and jeans. 

A lot of this happens during the day-see Bobby's face. 

The leaves are changing colors and it's a beautiful walk down our road. 

After the kids go to bed, we let the dog inside. She usually plays with the kids toys. One night she grabbed Ilya's pacifier. Ugh. 

A present from our church family. 

Finally got Ilya's room put together and moved her in there this week. So far so good. 

Watched the Tigers game at Bob's folks. Bobby talks about Ivo (and Brett) all the time. Thank God for these guys (& James) who will no doubt be great influences on my little buddy. 

Guess who got another bee sting. 

Yet another reason to keep the dog outside. 

October Fun

Emery is getting big! We noticed she's likely practicing for Black Friday here. Atta girl! 

Buddy holding baby sister. 

My sweetie is drumming. Yet another great talent God has given him! The kid is full of so many, it's ridiculous. 

My dad's life group multiplied and he is now a LG shepherd. It really is great to see how God has worked in his life the past few years. 

They just looked so big to me when they stood there, so I had to take a picture. 

Good swaddling!

Love living in the country. 

Buddy pestering both sisters in one photo. Pacifier/potty chair thief!

Teaching Bellie to play hide and seek. Here is her first "hiding" place. 

A baby cousin was born this week. Bellie got to go see her with me. 

McKenna Grace. 

Bellie welcoming her to the world of germs. 

Bellie got to eat Aunt Amanda's ice cream. 

Little buddy got stung by a bee this week. His hand swelled up terribly!

A friend from church came over today with her children (7!) to make lunch and dinner and clean my house. They live an hour away and I'm just amazed at her effort to bless me. We had a lot of fun and it was great to spend time together! 

She gave my bathroom a serious scrubbing! It is so clean I could probably eat in there! Good grief!

Ah, how it sparkles and shines! It was covered in rust, so this is such a pretty sight!

Last thing to mention .... Cloth diapering and potty training are going surprisingly well! Whew! 

One Month Old

Ilya is a month old! Here are some stats:

She now weighs 7 lbs. 7 oz. and is 21 inches long. She eats every 2 to 3 hours and is a great sleeper. She is wearing newborn size clothes and newborn size diapers. She likes her swing, car seat, bouncy seat and sling. She is a very easy baby, thank God! Very few things seem to upset her. I've noticed that anytime her hat falls over her eyes she gets really upset. I'd say even more upset than when she is hungry or needs to be changed. It's quite funny. She is now starting to look more intently at us. She's very strong and can easily lift her head. So far, she likes car rides. She loves to be swaddled. When she is fussy, I usually wrap her tightly and that calms her down almost immediately. She is such a sweet baby and we are thankful God added her to our family! 

Here is Isabelle's 1 month picture. 

Something really neat I wanted to mention, the meaning of Ilya's name.

When we were trying to decide on a name for Isabelle I wanted a name that meant Jesus is Lord. I had a name picked out, however Bob didn't like it at all. So, I just dropped it. After Ilya was born, my mom and stepdad started looking up the meaning of her Russian name. Here's what they found:

Isn't it amazing how God worked that out?! I couldn't be happier about that and I know it isn't a coincidence! What a great statement for our family: we've chosen to make Jesus Lord of our lives.