Three Years Sweet

Yesterday was our Lucy Rose's 3rd Birthday.

Please wait for a moment while I get weepy. THREE? Wasn't she a 6 month old yesterday? When did this happen? I know every parent says that time flies, but I'm really starting to believe it now. 

During the day, my mom watched Clara so I could take Lucy down to Bucer's for a birthday date. We had a blast eating our cookies and chatting. I learned that Lucy's favorite color right now is green, her favorite animal is a bunny rabbit, her favorite movie is Curious George, and when she grows up she wants to "own a baby." 

Back at home while the kids napped, mom and I decorated the downstairs for her birthday party. We didn't really have a "theme", but Lucy loves fall and halloween and pumpkins so we ran with that. 

My absolute favorite part were the owl cupcakes. Pretty straightforward to make and the kids loved them.

The spider might seem a little morbid, but that was actually Lucy's own choice. I told her she could pick out anything she wanted from the dollar store after our last trip there, and this is what she chose. Sketty the spider. I'd like to say he's growing on me, but he isn't.

As party favors for the kids (and place settings), we used stickers to spell out all of the children's names on mini-pumpkins. Those were also a huge hit.

Even the little babies got pumpkins, although I'm not sure they appreciated them fully.

So then at 4 we headed over to Bonkerz indoor play area, where all the children spent a blissful two hours playing. I only remembered to get my camera out twice, and neither picture is going to win any awards, but hey. At least the moment is captured.

At 6 we headed back to our place for pizza and cupcakes (and beer and salad for the adults).

This picture is not even of all of the children present there. It was a delightfully chaotic scene.

Afterwards Lucy opened her presents:

And thanked everyone with hugs:

This birthday was such a blast for Lucy and for Joel and I. It is so very fun to watch your child's look of delight when she realizes that the cake, decorations, and presents are for her, to celebrate her life. We reminded Lucy that all of this love we are showing to her is just a small bit of the love that God shows to her every single day. We are so grateful for our sweet, spunky little girl!

Fall Adventures

Yesterday was one of those perfect Fall days: the air was a little crisp but the skies were clear and the sun was shining. Joel was on a short business trip, so my parents and I took the girls out to the u-pick flower gardens that are just outside of town. 

Lucy let me take a few posed shots:

But then our antsy almost-three-year-old started squirming:

And pretty soon, she was off running:

And running.....

Then she convinced Papa to run with her:

And to pose with wheat stubble:

The flowers were at the end of their blooming season, but that didn't bother Lucy. She thought it was a grand adventure anyway.

Clara, on the other hand, fell asleep on the way out to the gardens, and didn't wake up until the ride home. So this is the only shot I got of her:

Portrait of a Baby

Clara continues to delight us every day with her giggles and babbles and huge, gummy grins. She is harder to photograph than Lucy, mostly because she moves around a lot more (which is saying something). But here are a few shots I managed to grab of our adorable 6 month old.

And in comparison, here is Lucy at 6 months. I think they look completely different!

September madness

Things have felt so incredibly busy since we moved to Moscow, what with moving into my parent's basement, getting reconnected in this community, and also doing all the negotiations that go into selling our house (which closed today, thank the Lord!).

But in the last few weeks, we reached some important milestones. Clara turned six months, and learned how to sit up on her own. She now sits up constantly. Even in the bathtub.

Then, the FAIR CAME! I had to put that in caps because that was the level of enthusiasm Lucy had. She was very brave and went on lots of rides this year. Usually with friends.

But she also convinced Papa to go on a ride with her.

And show her the animals: 

Lucy loved that she got to go twice, once with Joel and I and once with Nana and Papa.

Clara didn't really see what all the fuss was about, but she was happy enough just hanging out in the backpack.

Last week Lucy started ballet, and she did wonderfully. 

I was very proud of her, she listened well to the teacher and picked up the moves quickly. Plus she gets to fulfill her lifelong dream of dancing ballet. In a REAL leotard (but not a real skirt which we had to run out and buy the next day).

And Clara has been busy making new friends as well. Here she is spending some quality time with Sofie Church.

So that is how we spent our last hurrah of summer! Now it's on to the madness of Fall and Winter birthdays and holidays. We can't wait!

Summer 2013

We've been delightfully busy since we moved back to Moscow, and I haven't had the chance to take as many pictures as usual. But I looked through my phone and found several photos that give you an idea of what we've been up to. 

Lucy still takes amazingly long naps in the afternoon, and since Clara does not take amazingly long naps, we've been able to have a lot of mama-baby bonding time. So first is a selfie, not nearly as newsworthy as the pope's, but still cute. 

Lucy has discovered her artsy side. She spends a good portion of each day coloring, etch-a-sketching, and drawing with chalk. Here is Sketty, my all-time favorite drawing of hers:

We've reconnected with our friends the Points here in Moscow. They have a daughter also named Lucy who is just a few months younger than ours. They are fast friends, and Morgan and I love listening to our two daughters interact and play together. 

Here are the two Lucys exploring Palouse together. 

I'm not sure how Lucy caught the back-to-school bug considering she has no older siblings, but a few days ago she marched up to me with her backpack on and announced that she was going to school. And every day since then she has either donned her backpack to go to school, or gathered up her belongings in a purse and gone off to a "meeting". Both times I have been left to listen on the monitor for her pet penguin in case he wakes up screaming (which he inevitably does).

Lucy and Clara are starting to interact more as well, and Lucy was thrilled to discover that her sister could sit in a baby swing at the park and they could swing together. We frequently catch Lucy saying things like: "Look at her cute fat baby legs!" 

They even managed to complain in unison when I suggested a photo shoot:

And lastly, I have proof of Clara's cute, fat baby legs. We love this chunky stage!

Clara's First Food

These pictures were probably from about two weeks ago, but since all of last week was a frenzied attempt to get our lives out of boxes and into closets and cupboards, I am only now getting around to posting them. 

We gave Clara some rice cereal, and I snapped away while she was eating and came up with these hilarious photos. Clara probably will not thank me for posting them later in life. 

First there was shock. WHAT is this strange substance in my mouth?

Then there was a little bit of excitement at the realization that she could swallow it.

Followed by some very unsuccessful attempts to feed herself (just like her sister did):

She really was not a huge fan of rice cereal

But managed to summon up a smile or two for the camera by the end:

And in comparison, here is Lucy getting her first solids:

Going Home

I suppose it's a good thing I never changed the name of this blog. I meant to, but I was always hoping some really clever title would come to me, and when one never did I just forgot about it.

But now that doesn't matter, because after 2 1/2 years in Eugene, we are moving back to Moscow!

This wasn't entirely out of the blue. Joel realized a few months ago that public accounting was not for him, and so we started thinking about a job change. And since we were making a decision about changing jobs, we knew we should think about the possibility of moving back to Moscow as well. We left a great deal of friends behind when we moved, and in the past several years those friends have gone on to have many cute kids. And as it turns out, Lucy gets along with those cute kids, and we still get along with those friends, so we're excited about the fact that we'll get to reconnect with all of them. And, of course, my parents live in Moscow, which was a huge draw for us too (they may have bribed us home with the promise of free babysitting). Plus it was always our hope that Lucy could attend Logos School when she was old enough.

So with all of that in mind, we began praying that God would open doors if He wanted us to return, and keep them closed if that wasn't His plan for us. Joel applied for a few jobs, and one of the companies he applied for was called Digilent, Inc. They are located in Pullman, WA and they were looking for an accountant, so after a few interviews and some time spent waiting for them to formulate an offer, Joel was offered the job last Wednesday, and he accepted. So once again we have just a few short weeks to pack up our house, say goodbye to all of our friends, and move.

There is so much we will miss about Eugene. First and foremost, we will miss all of our dear friends, especially the saints at Christ the King Church. We moved here without knowing anyone, and they welcomed us and treated us like family. They had us over to their houses, helped us move from apartment to duplex to house, kept us afloat through the loss of our son, and rejoiced with us at the birth of our daughter. Our lives have changed so much in the past 2 1/2 years, and these wonderful saints have been there every step of the way.

And we will miss the city of Eugene, with all of its friendly people so passionate about food, recycling, and the great outdoors. We will miss being an hour and a half from the coast, and two minutes from Trader Joe's and Target. We will miss the year-round greenery and the fact that I could actually keep plants alive here (although I will not miss their large spiders).

And of course, we are leaving behind a tiny grave marked with the name of our son. But we know that no grave will hold our little Christian for long, and that when the sun rises on the earth-made-new, he will come bursting forth in his transformed body, and no number of miles will keep us from him.

So this is a bittersweet move for us. But we are so very excited for this new adventure, and hopefully once things settle down a bit I will be able to share them with you on this blog! But for now, back to packing...