Karis is almost 6 1/2 mos old already! She has grown and changed so much over the past month. I don't know how much she weighs, but we'll find out at her check-up in a few days. I'm guessing she's about 15.5 lbs or so. She's sitting up really well and even started scooting on the floor today. Not exactly a crawl yet, but she's getting really close.

Look at those long, beautiful eyelashes - she and Caleb both get those from their daddy.
She also gets those big round eyes from her daddy - love those big blue eyes!

She is so funny when she gets excited - looks like she's about to take off

Karis has been sleeping better over the last 2 weeks, thank goodness. We've had a few rough nights, like the one a few nights ago when I was up with her for 2.5 hours in the middle on the night, and then once I finally got her down, Caleb woke up at 5:30am - so I only got 3 hours of sleep that night! That was brutal. But last night she slept for 9 hours straight - that was glorious. Now that she can roll over, she obviously prefers to sleep on her tummy and has been sleeping longer this way.
The Bumbo is such a great invention...
This is from the 4th of July, but it's one of the few good pics I have of me and her
Karis thinks her brother hung the moon. She laughs harder and more often for him than anyone else.
Such a good pic of Karis and her Mimi
She's getting so long!
Sleeping in the Beco at a baseball game

She is constantly chewing on her fingers or anything else she can get her hands on. We should have a tooth pretty soon.
I love this picture and her beautiful blue eyes!!!

Conversations with Caleb

Where to begin? This kid is hilarious! It has been so much fun to watch Caleb's imagination take off over the last month or so. I think I laugh more now on a daily basis than I ever have before.
Here are some of my Conversations With Caleb: (warning, the last one may be a little crass to some people, but hopefully the humor will outweigh the rest)

- Marc took his preaching classes over the summer and Caleb got to watch him practice. A few weeks ago I left my Bible sitting on the couch and got up to do something. Caleb went over to my Bible and started turning the pages and this is what I hear:
C: "Sermon, sermon, sermon. Direction our life. Sermon, sermon, sermon"
L: "Are you preaching a sermon about the direction of our lives?"
C: "YEAH! Sermon, sermon, sermon..."

- Caleb has started to tell us stories. The other night at the dinner table this is what we got:
C: "God pushed daddy. God pushed daddy and daddy fell on ground. Daddy fell down."
(where he got this, we don't know!)

- Caleb has a stuffed monkey that he always sleeps with. The other day while putting him down for a nap, he lifted up his shirt and started trying to "feed" his monkey. He even burped monkey after and exclaimed "oh, that was good burp monkey!"

- We've been introducing Caleb to potty training and decided to use the anatomically correct terms. So, he's really fascinated by it all and these are the conversations we get:
C: "Mommy, that's my tuna!"
L: "No, Caleb, that's your penis"
a few days later....
C: "Mommy, you no have your penis?"
L: "No, Caleb, I do not have a penis."
and the next day...
C: "Mommy, you no have your penis?"
L "No, Caleb I don't have one"
C: "Mommy, go store buy penis!"


At a Rough Riders game with Gramps and Grammy

Caleb has a new cousin, Rylee Richards! She is beautiful.

I have never seen Caleb and Grayson have as much fun playing together as they did the other day. It was so special to watch, and I can only imagine the trouble those two will cause together when they get older!

Helping me make cookies
Love, love this sweet boy of mine
He loves to vacuum and is actually pretty good at it!
The other day Marc let Caleb play with the bubbles by himself, and this is what we got: our kid using bubble solution as shampoo :)

The last month

I know this is a long overdue update. Karis is already 5 1/2 months old - hard to believe! She's rolling over and sitting up a little while supporting herself with her arms. It is hysterical to watch her with her brother. Just the sight of him brings a giant smile to her face. He can make her stop crying just by talking to her, even when I can't. And as soon as he starts laughing, she joins him with the cutest giggles. She's already trying to take his toys from him, sometimes rather aggressively (which is pretty funny to watch), and he is already trying to let her know that they are his toys. We talk lots about sharing our toys these days.
Our biggest struggle lately is that she is still not taking a bottle and she has been super fussy lately, which I think is due to teething. She doesn't stay asleep for long, at naptime or night time. So I'm kind of worn out. The other night she woke up at 11 and just screamed for an hour, and we had no idea what was wrong with her. She's also decided that she only wants to be put to sleep one way - that is being held upright with her head on my chest while I walk around with her. Yes, walk around. If I dare sit, she starts screaming, which I've decided is just a royal fit if that's possible at 5 1/2 months. So, we're about to have to start making some changes with sleep stuff and do a little sleep training I guess, though I am dreading it. I think I'm going to try some methods from The No-Cry Sleep Solution - we'll see how it goes.
Anyhow, my precious little girl brings so much joy to our lives. Here are some pics of her recent activities. She has discovered that she has ten little appendages that are fun to chew on, especially the big ones!

She loves her Mimi very much!
What a big girl - Karis can sit for a minute or two

She likes to play on her tummy
Though when she's had enough of it, she's had enough.


She likes to sit on her big brother's car with him, which he frequently requests for her to do
Caleb loves to hold Karis and most days asks to hold her on the couch
Caleb has had a great summer. He took swim lessons with Grammy and really enjoyed it.
Caleb also rode on daddy's bike for the first time, which he loved!
We went to the children's museum at the nature and science center, and I'm pretty sure his favorite was the fire engine!
And most days he enjoys one of the best parts of the summer - a yummy homemade popsicle. So easy - just 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup organic whole milk yogurt, 1 banana, and 1 mango. I just learned how to do this a few weeks ago - so glad I did.
Caleb continues to amuse us with all the funny things he says. He's speaking in full sentences and asks about every 5 minutes "mommy, whatcha doin'?" It's fun to get to talk to him about all sorts of things and to have him interact so much in the conversation. He's so smart and curious and energetic, as well as sweet and kind, and yes, strong-willed and determined, too.
Those sweet moments are some of my favorite. The other day I came downstairs in a skirt (which I never wear lately!) and he said "oh, mommy that's beautiful dress you have on. I love you, mommy"! The best part is I didn't even know he knew the word beautiful. I had never heard him say it until that moment.

Rheumatoid Update

I got so many positive comments after I posted about my RA a few months ago. And so many people have asked me about it since, so I know this update is long overdue.
After I posted about the RA a few months ago, it just kept getting worse. I went to see my rheumatologist but just did not have peace about getting on the meds yet. I wanted to try something else first, but I just didn't know what. One day Marc was at the seminary and ran into an old friend. He was updating him on our lives, including my RA. A girl sitting nearby starting telling him that her mother has RA and she has lots of stomach issues, and that they both did a diet and had tremendous results. The diet is called The Maker's Diet. Funny, several years ago I had purchased the book for $3 at Half Price Books just out of curiosity, but had never even opened it.

So I began to read the book and really just pray about whether or not this was what the Lord wanted me to do. And I absolutely had peace that it was. So I have been on this "diet" - really just an incredibly healthy lifestyle - for about 6 weeks and have had some really amazing relief from the rheumatoid. It has been just absolutely amazing to me to see how the Lord is using it to heal me. I am so incredibly thankful for all that He is doing through this new way of eating. He is using it to bring out a lot of things in my heart that need to be dealt with as well.

Lots of people ask what the diet is all about. Basically, I eat nothing processed, organic fruits and vegetables, grass fed beef with no hormones or antibiotics, free-range chicken/eggs, sprouted grains (Ezekiel bread), nuts, raw honey etc. The author's theory is that all of the pesticides, hormones, antibiotics etc that we put into our bodies is one of the main reasons we have so many diseases now compared to 100 yrs ago. And after seeing how much it has affected my health, I am a believer. It has opened up a completely new way of life for me, and it's so exciting. Some days I feel like I would kill for a Dr. Pepper or Chick fil A, but then I remember how much better I am starting to feel and that I don't need RA meds at this point, and it keeps me going. Besides, most of the food tastes so much better than what I was eating before. And as an extra bonus, I have lost 13 lbs so far!

The Lord is so faithful. I don't know if I will ever be completely free of RA, but I am continuing to feel better as I follow this diet. It is an amazing thing to see that He is my healer.

Karis Update

I love this picture of Karis! She's such a happy girl, and one of the best things about these few pics is that she's wearing an outfit my sister, Emily, wore as a baby. I just think that's really special. Karis looks so comfy in her Mimi's arms - completely stretched out - sound asleep.
She's 4 1/2 months old now, but just had her 4 month Dr. visit. Karis weighs in at 13lbs 9 oz, which is the 50th percentile for baby girls her age. It's funny b/c strangers stop me and talk about how they "just love those fat babies", but Caleb definitely had at least 2 lbs on her at this age. Anyway, she's doing great, sleeping pretty well and still fairly laid back. She's just such a smiley girl, which always makes my day when she looks at me and gives me that big, cute grin. The only quirk we're dealing with is that she won't take a bottle lately. Usually Marc could get her to take it, but last night she wouldn't even take it from him. It just makes it hard for me to get away for more than 2-3 hrs, but if that's all we have to deal with, then I'll take it. We are so thankful for this sweet girl. She is such a blessing and adds so much joy to our lives.

I think this is such a sweet picture of Karis and her Grammy.

She sucks her thumb sometimes - I think it's really cute.
Karis is trying to roll over from her back to her tummy, but she's not quite there yet. She's funny - definitely laid back. She tries a few times, and then decides to play with something instead.


I'll work on posting pictures more often. I know Karis' aunts would especially appreciate it! But I can't make any promises :)

Where to begin?! This kid just cracks us up constantly. The pictures are better than words. But here are some of the funny things he says/does lately:
- Caleb has only had about 4 spankings total in his short little life, and it's always something major that merits a spanking. Well, a few weeks ago he got mad at me for telling him to go to time out. In his anger he turned around and kicked Karis in the head (she was playing on the floor). She, of course, was screaming, and he, of course, had a spanking coming his way. So anyhow I took Karis to her bed to lay her down and told Caleb to wait in his room for me. As I walked into his room I saw him laying over his chair swatting his bottom saying "Caleb spank myself". I had to turn and walk back out of the room so he didn't see me laughing.

- When Karis is crying in the car (which thankfully is becoming much less often!) Caleb starts telling her "almost home baby girl, almost home baby girl". It's so sweet.
The other day I set Karis on the couch to run and do something in the kitchen. She started crying and Caleb came over to her and started patting her leg and saying "It's ok. Mommy be right back baby girl." He's such a good big brother!

- Caleb is really into baseball right now, and he can hit and throw really well. The funny part is that he always wants to wear his baseball cap AND his helmet, so this is what we get :)


Is this not the epitomy of summertime?!
We went to visit Marc and his students at the end of the school year. Caleb was such a ham and had lots of fun playing baseball w/the students.