Update on Life in Georgia

With all the photos I post on Instagram and Facebook, I forgot that, although they tell a lot of the story, they don't give away everything that is happening here in Georgia, and you all might be missing pieces of what's happening in our family! So, here's a little update…

As a whole, we are really loving our new life here in Georgia. There seems to be so much more downtime for us to spend as a family and our new space has proved to be a tremendous blessing to us.

For those that didn't know, Brandon simply made a lateral move in his company to the Atlanta branch so he has continued to do what he had been doing for nine years in California. Although his commute is a lot farther than we originally planned, he now gets off at 3:30pm, rather than 4:00pm, so he is getting home just about the same time everyday, if not a little earlier. In California, he was the {seasoned} tech; here he is the novice, with most techs in their 50s and 60s!…men just don't retire here! He was excited that they had a brand new work van waiting for him here which is a VERY big deal, since he spends his entire day in it. It is a huge blessing to have that van because it means we can easily deal with being a one-car family and save tons of money!

Brandon spends most of his free time building lots of cool stuff for us! We haven't done a lot to our actual house but Brandon has been busy making us furniture to fill it. So far he has built us a headboard and bed frame, a picnic table, an awesome chair for Aaron, and chairs for our kitchen table. He is far from done, however. His project list is a mile long including: a picnic table for the kids, stairs for our deck, a fence, a built-in library, and lots of wonderful shelving/cabinet space for my laundry room! And that's just projects he has to BUILD…there's tons more he wants to tackle on our existing house to make it more of a home for us. I am so thankful for his handiwork and his desire to create a beautiful place for us to live.

I continue to grapple with how to CLEAN this big of a house and, in short, I have learned that I can't. Instead, I spend the majority of my day playing with/discipling our kids and remind myself that there is always time when they are older to keep a {perfect} home. Brandon agrees with this priority and I have learned to let go. If you know me well, you know this is a huge step. :)

Aaron and Lucy seem to be thriving here. They absolutely love having the outdoor space that is afforded with a house and I have been blessed to spend many an hour sitting in our yard, watching them play. They seem to have quickly adjusted to a new environment, a new church, and new people, and I am thankful for that. I am so looking forward to raising them here and to witness how The Lord is going to use their lives…transplanted to Georgia…for their good and His glory.

We got a dog! I know that's pretty evident in our pictures but this was a big deal! I am in no way a dog person but Brandon grew up with them and Aaron has been asking for one ever since he could say the word {dog} so getting a house meant getting a dog. Brandon found a female Boxer puppy, who was the runt of the litter, locally on Craigslist, and knew he wanted her. Brandon and Aaron went to pick her up and felt she was just perfect for us. When asked what to name her, Aaron kept saying {car}. Well, we knew that wouldn't work out but we wanted Aaron to have a part in naming her and since he is obsessed with Hot Wheels, we brainstormed a few girly names for cars and the boys came up with {Shelby}. She really has been the perfect dog for our family but I'm still not entirely sold on the idea. It's definitely like having a THIRD toddler and, never having lived with a dog before, it's a huge learning curve for me. BUT, Brandon loves her and the kids ADORE her, so she's here to stay. I'm just praying the perfect potty-training and hyperactivity are resolved soon. :)

Moving here, we already knew what church we would be calling home, since we already had friends here and knew of its reputation for strong, Biblical teaching. So, within weeks, we were settled into Faith Community Church and just have been so tremendously blessed already. Brandon has joined their men's Bible study and we have just completed our membership classes so we are diving in! Our near future plan is to join a Sunday school class, to start getting to know more members of the body and so that Brandon can start getting plugged in with the counseling ministries within the church, as he had just started to do before we left Calvary. I'm also attempting to start a free cycle group here, since I was so blessed by the one the ladies at Calvary put together, and I think it would be a great way for me to serve this local body, as there isn't one in place here.

We haven't been too quick to make a lot of new friends. That is partly because we are introverts by nature and partly because we already had a built-in network of friends here. However, we have met some very sweet people already and look forward to deepening relationships as the years progress.

As for Georgia itself, we have done little to no exploring! We have really just been content to be home, working and playing. We do hope to get out a little more as the temps warm up a bit, however, and have a long list of places we'd love to visit. We have a few {local} trips tentatively planned in the near future and are excited for those. We are thankful, though, that we have the rest of our lives to explore this new area. :)

Weather! Ahhh! We have never paid attention to weather so much or learned so much about it our entire lives! This year is indeed a unique one for the entire U.S., it seems, but it has definitely caught us by surprise here in GA, being native So.Cal people. The seasons, of course, have been amazingly beautiful and I am acclimating to colder temps a LOT faster than I would have ever imagined. We haven't found that we have been hindered, in any way, by the temps and weather so far. But, we have already been through a few rough storms with snow and tornado warnings. While the snow is pretty few and far between in these parts, the tornados…we are quickly learning…are not! We didn't fully realize that when we moved here and it's a bit unnerving to learn that native Georgians refer to our city as {Tornado Alley!!} but, thankfully, we have a basement, and I am practicing emergency preparedness like I never have before! While I am prone to be anxious and worry about the chance of tornados here, I realize that it's a heart issue. In California, it was earthquakes; here it is tornados. If we were to have moved anywhere else it would be: hurricanes, ice storms, blizzards, etc…you can't run away from natural disasters…and to do so wouldn't be taking care of the problem, which is a lack of trust in our GOOD and SOVEREIGN God! I have been thankful for this wake-up call and have found that I am trusting the Lord more with those circumstances {in this instance, weather}, that are out of my control. {However, I do still think I prefer the DAYS and HOURS of warning to the unpredictability of earthquakes. :}

I think that about sums it up. Life has been pretty uneventful but very fruitful here and we are…{blessed}.

Hopefully, one of these days, I'll get a photo tour of our home put up here BUT, feel free to visit us anytime if you want a peek of the {Lessa Life} in person…our home {and guest room} are open to you! :)

Thankful

We've been here in Georgia for about six weeks now. I can honestly tell you that, in that time, we have not had a single regret about our move. And the funny thing is, we were so content with where The Lord had us in California, that I don't think we even really knew how much we were "missing" until we moved here. I think most people feel like they loose a part of themselves when they move away from everything they've ever known but, so far, that has not been true of us. Of course, let me make it clear that we do miss our family, friends, and church body at CBC, and we would take them with us in a heart beat if we could, but we have no regrets. This move has been so good for our family, for our soul(s).

Let me explain...

Except for a few good friends, we know no one. It's just the four of us. That has been so so sweet. We have found our relationships to be deeper, more meaningful, and more purposeful. We are all we have here in GA and it has made us that much more thankful for each other. Brandon and I have found our marriage to be stronger than ever...being together, making more decisions for our family, figuring things out together as a team. We wouldn't trade this closeness for anything.

While we have plugged into an amazing church that we are so excited to now call our home, we have been mindful to not fill our plate too quickly. This, too, has been a blessing because it has allowed us, for a short period of time, to have undivided attention on our family life. We have no ministry obligations, no schedule to stick to, no place to be. And while we don't intend to be in this phase for long, as we believe body life to be so crucial to a healthy walk, we are enjoying this concentrated time together.

Along the same lines, we have always been known to be homebodies, but we are even more so now. We don't feel a need to get out when we have so much space that is ours. And I'm not talking space to separate from one another; space to get out and explore as a family. No longer are we at the mercy of finding free events and places to go to get out and run around; we have it right here in our backyard…and down the street at our private, community park.

We're also finding this allows for a lot more purposeful time talking about The Lord. "Lazy" afternoons at home have given way to more time in The Word, as a family, and has lent itself to more conversations focused on God and His character, as we are spending quiet time together, rather than being out, walking around amongst crowds, going, going, going. It's been amazing to see just how much Aaron has grown in his understanding of God and how much his little mind and heart are soaking up with all this extra time to "redeem". It's been a huge motivator for us to continue to lead less busy lives. Yes, we want to take on ministry related commitments eventually and want to start actively loving on others here in Georgia, but we have also seen just how important our family "down" time is and will be making a point to always guard it.

However, even with all this family time, we are so very blessed to be near some very, very dear friends here in Georgia. I don't think we'd be in the good place we are without them and it's been an encouragement to have a little bit of California here with us in Georgia. We are looking forward to deepening these friendships in the years to come and are excited that even more CA "family" will be joining us soon! :)

Another huge way we have been blessed in our move is financially, albeit, in a more "unconventional" way. Since we decided to "stretch" and buy the best house we could afford (rather than buy a place that needed a lot of work put into it OR buy a place that we'd outgrow and have to move again)…money is tight. And, tight can be scary, BUT we have also found it to be so freeing at the same time. There's not a lot of discretionary money these days but, now that we are without it, we wonder how we ever blew so much money in the first place on unnecessary and meaningless things. It has quickly shown us what is truly "necessity" and it's crazy to see how little we actually need.

We've always had a "budget" but it was more like a target to aim at rather than a absolute must. Today, we are at the counting pennies point but, seriously, I wish I had been here years ago!

I had been convicted, when we were moving out of our apartment, about how much food I had to get rid of that had been sitting in our fridge and freezer. We could have literally lived off what was in there for 3 months! And, yet, every week, I was going to the store and buying another $100-$150 worth of food, only to throw a good portion of it away because it had gone bad. Ouch! What a waste! I was just buying because we wanted something different to eat that week, not because we didn't have any food in the house.

Now, we are careful to eat through our fridge/freezer and pantry before going to the store. We are only buying necessary foods on a weekly basis (like produce and everyday staples that need to be replenished). And, oh my! This week…I spent $21, for the entire week!! It's truly been an eye-opener to see how wasteful we were being as a family and how well we can still eat, even on a super tight budget! And, as an added bonus, Brandon and I have both lost a bunch of fatty weight, since we aren't eating out, are more mindful of portions (and, of course, have stairs to constantly walk up and down). :)

All of this is helping us learn to be better stewards of what we do have and appreciating every little thing that we have been given.

(Disclaimer: no need to feel sorry for us…we are in a good place financially…just being uber wise with what we do have ;))

And one of the biggest changes with all of this is God is finally teaching me to be a woman of prayer. Shamefully, I've always been a lazy pray-er and, frankly, just not very faithful. I would pray over big needs (both personal and for friends) but those daily prayers of thanksgiving and seemingly small physical and spiritual needs were of little consequence to me. But, in stripping me of financial security AND being far away from friends to tell all my troubles to, I have come to finally, bow the knee and bring everything before The Lord. And what medicine for my soul that has been!

I have found being farther away from those I love has helped me remember to pray more for them. Before, I had been content to "do" and just "be"…now that distance has hindered both of those, I am learning to pray…and pray fervently...which is really the most important thing I could ever give them and the best way to actually show my genuine love for them. (So, to all my dear friends, you know who you are, I'm sorry that it took 2000 miles to finally be a true friend, but I now am truly, truly praying for you, in ways I never before have and I love you all so very, very much.)

In the same vein of thought, even the simple act of praying over my family's food as I prepare it has been a blessing…as I acknowledge that whatever portion (little or big), or whatever quality (organic or non), it all comes from Him. He is the one providing for us and I need not worry but, rather, bring it all before Him (Matthew 6:25-34). This applies to so many areas and I am so, so thankful for this "wake-up" call from The Lord; He is very kind to be long-suffering with me as I take so long to "get it."

Anyways, that's just a little glimpse into how The Lord has been using our time in Georgia to grow us into a more thankful, more Christ-centered, closer family. In our minds, we are content to live out the rest of our days here, but we know that God can do and move where He wills so, for any length of time we have here, we are grateful and will do our very best to redeem our time for His kingdom and His glory.

9 Months

Onto Lucy Anne...

Our dancing queen, our social butterfly, our vocalist, our evening's entertainment, our cheerleader, our pick-me-up of choice...

Life certainly is different with Miss Lucy Anne around; she is everything we are not...and we love it.

We hear over and over that she has one of the best smiles ever and she just loves to light up a room with her bubbly and joyful personality. She doesn't seem to mind who has her, just as long as someone is paying her mind. She's going to be the one in our family to make friends here in Georgia, and then introduce them to us. :)

We are constantly laughing at her antics and love to watch her goofy little personality develop. She has a head bob and a hip shake that is to die for and she does what we refer to as a "hi-ya!" that is hysterical! She also loves to make all kinds of silly faces and is encouraged to create more when she hears someone laugh at her.

She absolutely adores her brother and loves her daddy to the moon and back. Both of these guys put the largest smile on her face when they walk into the room.

She is my cuddly one and I am grateful for that. In an effort to have self-soothers, I had been cautious to not pick up either one too quickly, or hold them too long, and that has, for the most part, turned both Aaron and Lucy into kiddos that don't love being held and won't cuddle for long periods of time. :( However, Lucy will randomly come up and crawl into my lap and lay her head on my shoulder. She will sit still with me for a time after finishing her bottle and just be still. I am thankful for this. Even though I've succeeded in not having "needy" cuddly children, I am thankful for a willing, happy cuddler, during acceptable waking hours. :)

Developmentally, she's still on the upper end of average in almost all areas. Currently, she's weighing in at 20 pounds 12 ounces (about the 90%) while her length is fairly average (28")...making for a little girl with rolls for days! We just call her our true little Italian. :)

My last update (at 4 months) indicated that my milk supply was great and there was no supplementing in sight. Well, just a few short weeks after that post, it plummeted and quickly disappeared altogether. So, we've been on formula for a little over 4 months now but have learned to be thankful to live in an age where such a thing is available and we praise the Lord for good health, despite the lack of the "best" food.

Speaking of food...solids. Oh my. Between being the second child and our across-country move, I had been so slow at introducing her to solids. I was so on top of it with Aaron and, by 9 months, he had been exposed to almost every food possible at that age. Lucy? Not so much. Having now settled into a routine here in Georgia, I am finally feeding her solids three times a day. It's hilarious to me, however, because her rolls would indicate that she eats far too much when, in reality, she eats more like a little bird. She does not seem to mind any food that we've given her thus far but she doesn't seem to be enthusiastic about any particular food either. She does, however, love to eat everything that isn't traditionally labeled as "food" and we have to watch her like a hawk as she scours the floors, looking for "food." This has helped me to be more on top of cleaning the floors, though. ;)

As for other developmental milestones: she's pulling herself up, cruising like mad, and will often stand for a few seconds unassisted. She appears to have no actual interest in walking, however, as she would much rather fall into someone's arms and cuddle. She just constantly needs to have human contact. :)

She's also an awesome sleeper...just like her brother. Almost 12 hours at night...and she's quickly adjusted to the light we have on a timer so we don't hear a peep out of her until 7am. In recent days, she has found naps over-rated but, since she's such a cheerful little one, we haven't minded too much.

She's babbling a.lot. Remember, I said she's our vocalist? We already know that we have a lot of work ahead with her and having a gentle and quiet spirit. :) I'm sure she rambles off "words" but I've never been one to figure that out. She is, however, using different "sounds" and changes her inflections so I know she's on the right track.

She loves to clap and wave and dance and has recently starting pointing at things...things that I didn't witness Aaron do until he was well over a year old. But, I think that has to do with different personalities and the fact that she is all.girl.

Overall, our lives our brighter with little Lucy in them and we love her, despite all our reservations about having a girl. We look forward to watching her continue to grow and develop and are truly enjoying having her in our family.

Milestones

Late again...which is funny because, in real life, I try to be late (fashionably) and never succeed. :)

So, we've had some pretty big milestones in this house in October...Aaron turned 2 years old and Lucy turned 9 months. I think I'm so lazy at getting these up because, when I stop to think about these two and how they've grown, my thoughts get all jumbled. I'm with them every waking moment they have and those moments tend to run together and, by the end of the month, I can't exactly remember what they just starting doing and what they've been doing forever. I'll try my best to get some memorable things down, though. Mainly for me...don't feel like you need to read this...it's all mommy bragging. :)

Aaron- 2 Years Old

This boy. My heart literally leaps out of my chest when I start to consider all the ways he's added to my life and all the ways I love him. His entire life has been medicine for my soul and it takes all I have to not squeeze him till he pops. 

He continues to be considerably bright (and not just because he's my son. :). He's a little sponge and picks up new concepts so quickly; Brandon and I are continually in awe of how his mind works. He appears to be very much a visual learner (as I am) but is a very quick and mechanically inclined learner (as is his father) as well.

At two years of age, he knows all the letters of the alphabet except "w" and will occasionally mix up "f" and "e" and "s" and "z." He knows roughly half of the letter sounds and can even tell you what a word starts and ends with, based on what sound it makes. Crazy! As a former teacher, I can't even wrap my head around this!

He reads constantly. And is even starting to "read" books by himself. With a few books, he has picked up "whole language" and can read specific words to you (obviously, having memorized what they look like...hence, whole language). One example being "beep."

He knows all his shapes and colors already, as well as different kinds of lines (straight, wavy, spiraled, zig-zag). 

He recognizes all numbers up to 10 and can count (with help) up to ten. Visually, he can immediately recall groups of "2." 

Verbally, he's on the lower end of average. Although, just in the last few weeks, his language has seemed to take off. He has an extensive vocabulary (well over 200 words) but he has been a bit slow at forming 2-3 sentences, at least in comparison to his friends (I know, don't compare!). I think part of that has to do with the fact that he is not apt to repeat what he hears others saying (until this week...2 years and 3 weeks); we've noticed he tends to take things in quietly and then only seems to "produce" when he's figured out how to perfect it internally (just like his mama). This has caused much frustration on our part in the past but now that I'm starting to understand the way his mind works, I have let go a little and just focus on drenching him with as much vocabulary as possible, knowing it will one day pop out of his mouth. :)

As for his physical development, he continues to be on the lower end of average as well. It seems to take him considerably more time to acquire these skills. At 2, he is just beginning to run and his "jump" is more in theory. He can throw well but hasn't quite grasped the concept of catching yet. Since moving into our house, he has finally mastered the stairs.

Socially, he remains very shy meeting new people, or people he hasn't seen in awhile. However, in time, he warms up and really enjoys the company of others, especially kids around his age and men. :)

He loves Lucy dearly but I can see the sibling rivalry coming out a bit more these days, as she's more mobile and gets into his personal space. He is constantly saying "Lu-cy" and "Buh-buh" (a play on a family nickname for her), trying to redirect her or stop her from demolishing something he's worked so hard to build. Overall, he continues to be sweet to her and is quick to say sorry if he hurts her, along with "hug." He has started getting a little too rough with her in recent days, mainly when he's trying to wrestle...as we do with him, not understanding she's too little. But it melts my heart watching him play chase with her and watching him find ways to make her laugh. I'm excited to watch their friendship grow as she's able to do more.

His favorite activities these days are: reading, cars, army men, coloring (for hours), legos, trains, "tools" and "outside."

His least favorite activities are: anything that takes him away from his favorite activities. ;)

One of the sweetest things about Aaron is his love for the Bible. He is constantly asking to read the "Biii-bul" and to pray. He loves talking about how "Je-us die...cross...bad...sins." Very often, and I kid you not, I come into a quiet room to find him pouring over my Bible (which obviously doesn't have any pictures). We do "memorize" verses with him but, until this week, it's always just been us saying it aloud. This week, we were pleasantly surprised to find him repeating the verse with us (Ephesians 6:1) and we are excited that opportunities for more memorization have just opened up. While we are encouraged by this early love of The Word and the things of God, we recognize that he still has an unregenerate heart and only pray, in time, that he will truly come to love God with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength. We are thankful for these early opportunities to teach him about the Lord, though, and are trying to be faithful to live out Duet. 6:7-9 in his little life.

To keep me humble and this post "real," one of the most maddening things about Aaron is his refusal to eat any vegetable in its original form. He will, however, eat any vegetable, as long as it's pureed. This has been a constant source of tension in our home. We waver between making him "man up" and eat them the good ol' fashioned "grown up" way and continuing to puree them. After all, he will eat veggies, which is huge. So it's either, puree and get goodness in his tummy or put our foot down and end up with no goodness getting in. We've attempted both ways and we are currently on the "puree"side of the fence. :)

Emotionally, Aaron struggles with a quick temper, is easily frustrated, and has and an incredibly stubborn will. Sadly, these traits are alllll from me :( Training him to respond rightly in the midst of these weaknesses is so very hard but so very good for my soul; when I am speaking to his little heart, I am also speaking to me. While I know that parenting, in general, is incredibly sanctifying, I have a feeling God gave me Aaron to be my special sanctification buddy. We "get" each other's specific sin natures and, hopefully, in time will be as iron sharpens iron. :)

Well, I know I've probably missed a lot but, thankfully, this is my blog and I can always come back and edit later, as I remember specific things. I need to move on to my sweet Lucy Anne, which I will "tackle" in another post, seeing as how lengthy this one has become (I guess that's what happens when I don't post regularly. :)

The Bullet Point

So, to catch you all up on how we ended up in GA, I'm just gonna bullet point the details...otherwise I'd never get this up.

So, first off...WHY MOVE?

* We wanted to raise our family anywhere but California. 

* We could NEVER  afford a house in California.

* Brandon (and Aaron) want a dog...a big dog, one that wouldn't fit in a tiny apartment.

* I liked the idea of never facing earthquakes again.

But, WHY GEORGIA?

* Our move had a few requirements:

   - It had to be a place Brandon could transfer to, rather than look for a new job. 

   - It had to be a place where we already had close friends...we are too introverted to move to place knowing no one.

   - It had to have a solid, Bible-teaching church that could support Brandon's desire to be trained in marriage and family counseling. 

    - It had to be a place where we could afford a house. 

    - It had to be a place with trees and places to hike and explore nature, otherwise I would really never get out and exercise. :)

Georgia met all of these requirements and so, here we are!

Ok, so HOW?

* We decided to visit at the very worst time of year for this part of the country: summer. We figured if we could handle the humidity and bugs, we'd be fine the rest of the year.

* We visited our friends (the Irbys) in late August, thinking we were scouting it out and taking "notes" on whether we liked it or not...possibly thinking about a move in 2014. Brandon even set up a visit to the Atlanta branch to see if he'd like working here.

* Long story short: every single reservation Brandon had about working in Atlanta was dispelled and they offered him a position on the spot, for the same pay he was receiving in California (which is HUGE), and with perks that no one could pass up.

* We had plans to just move out and stay with our friends for a few months until we found a house but, after scouting out just a handful of houses, we found "the one"...we put an offer in and they accepted! 

* Headed back to California in early September, packed our stuff, made all the arrangements, and were back in GA on October 4th to close on the house!

Really, a 4400 sf HOUSE?

* Part of why we wanted a house in the first place was so that, in time, we could Fost-Adopt; with the rules in place that opposite genders could not share a room, we needed at least three bedrooms.

* If we were going to move so far from friends and family, we'd have to have a place for them to stay when they visit. :)

* We wanted a house where we could take in our parents, should we ever need to, and have space to allow them their own space. In the meantime, we wanted room to minister to others who might need a place to stay.

* We've decided to homeschool, so we needed a place for that...a place where I could teach as I'm used to. :)

* We wanted room to host Bible Studies or other church events, if possible.

Overall, we had no idea that this would come in the form of 4400 sf, but that's where The Lord led and this is where we ended up. Our prayer is that we would never use this space to fulfill our own greedy desires, but that we would always be about using it to do His work, for His people. 4400 sf can have the effect of puffing one up, but Brandon and I pray very much that this never be the case: that we continually acknowledge that it is His and that we did absolutely nothing to earn it ourselves. For the rest of our time here, may people see and understand that God's work is being done within these walls and that we are using it for His glory!

We're Not In Kan....err, California, Anymore

Ok. Wow. I stink at blogging. Sorry.

So last time Lucy was 4 months old and we were living in a tiny 2-bedroom apartment in California.

                                

Now? Miss Lucy is a spunky (almost) 9 month old and we OWN a 4400 sf house in Georgia.

                                

Ummmm....

Ya. I don't think I know any better than you how that happened. Ha!

The best answer I have for the absolute life changing month we've been through is our God is good and kind and has seen fit to bless our socks off. Not because we deserved it, though, just because that's who He is. And all we know, looking forward, is that we want to spend the rest of our lives giving Him all the glory for it.

I have a hard time verbalizing everything that's happened...mostly why this blog hasn't been updated with this HUGE change in our lives; I simply don't know what to say or how to convey what I'm feeling yet. So, any attempt I do make at showing you all how life has changed for our family might turn out to be bullet-pointed or random photos slapped up here. I pray you forgive me for that and just enjoy the few crumbs I throw at you from time to time. :)

So that's it for this post...hopefully the randomness will soon follow. 

Four Months with Lucy Anne

This little lady is four months old already. Time has simultaneously felt like it's speeding by and moving in slow motion.

Miss Lucy Anne is the social butterfly that the rest of us are not. Just give her an opportunity, and she'll start a conversation with you, even in the middle of the night, if you'd let her. She has a huge smile for anyone who will pay her mind and loves to engage in silly games and sound-offs. 

She feels deeply and has no problem showing her full emotions; there's no putting up fronts with this one. She is one passionate little girl and is determined to win any "argument." This comes to light most often when "forced" to sit in her carseat or go to bed before she's good and ready.

Developmentally, she's already light years ahead of where Aaron was at four months, but I do know girls develop faster anyway. She's already rolling over, both ways, and can do yoga poses while laying on her belly that I could never dream of doing. She's sitting up supported and grabs onto toys like her life depends on it. 

Lucy is still holding her own in regards to weight, despite the fact that I'm positively paranoid that my milk supply keeps dropping. The pediatrician sees no need for supplementing at this point, though, and I am very thankful for that. However, we will continue to go back for monthly weigh-ins to make sure she continues to stay on target.

Just shy of four months, she also caught her first major (minor) illness: roseola. And, to date, is on the third cold of her short little life. Definitely life as a second child. I just tell myself that her immune system is getting nice and strong and I'm just thankful I haven't fallen prey to any of the illnesses myself. :)

Up until about a few weeks ago she was a rock-star sleeper, giving us 8-9 hour stretches at night, making mommy and daddy very happy and well-rested. But, as of late, we are lucky if we get a four hour stretch, very lucky in fact. I'm sure a growth spurt started it and the roseola/cold sealed the deal but Brandon and I have been a complete wreck with this new, not so pleasant, change in schedule. This week we are in full sleep training mode and had a small glimmer of hope last night so we will see. Hoping to get her bunking with Aaron soon. We are not good parents when sleep deprived and we aren't very good at sharing our room (Aaron was out by week 3). :)

I am truly loving having this sweet girl in my life and, although I never imagined enjoying a girl, I am so thankful to be a steward of her precious little life. She is already teaching me so much about myself and keeps me on my knees. Because of her, I am even more passionate about embracing my role as a wife and mother, as I desire to instill the same passion in her heart. Her presence has spurred in me a desire to be more hospitable, take more joy in the appearance of my home, not just the cleanliness or organization of it, grow my own vegetables, sew, make more food from scratch, love my husband and my children well, homeschool (gasp!), and most importantly, be a missionary for my children's souls. For all of that, and much more, I praise God for Lucy's life and am looking forward to raising her and watching her grow and mature.

I love you Miss Lucy Anne.