Messy Missy

We have started rice cereal. I don't even bother with a bib; there's no point with this girlie! She is such a messy eater, that this morning it was in her ears, all around the back of her head and down to her knees. No idea how that happens, honestly I don't. She thinks it's great fun!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was extra special this year because our Sophie was with us! I love being her mother so much and she has brought so much joy to me, in my mothering. As one of my friends put it, "You've carried Sophie in your heart for a long time!" Very true. I felt so blessed having my two babies this year. Thank you, Lord!

Anyway, the day itself was fine, but I missed Andre a lot, as he had to fly back home for his citizenship interview he had this morning (more on that later). But on Saturday, he and Jack brought me home some gorgeous flowers and such a cute card. I had told him that there was one thing I wanted for Mother's Day each year. I've decided that I would love for him to take the kids to the wholesale florist warehouse in town, that has a huge selection of flowers and make up a special bouquet for each Mother's Day. Well, they actually have a large florist's warehouse here in Mum and Dad's town too, so Andre took Jack and they chose these unique roses from South America that have what look like heart shaped centers. They are beautiful! Good choice boys :)

Terrible photography going on here, but you get the idea

Andre left on Saturday evening. On Sunday, we went to church, then came home for a brief lunch and naps. And tried, very unsuccessfully, to get some photos...

Jack was melting down and very ready for his nap!

Sophie refused to look at the camera

After naps, happy moods restored once more, Dad took us out to a local burger place for dinner which was fun. Jack loved all the cow memorabilia and thought he was big stuff getting to choose our milkshake flavor (of course he chose the bright orange ice cream for the shake, which happened to be "Dreamsicle"; not my idea of a "dream" milkshake but we enjoyed it nevertheless!).

Still not all looking in the right direction, but oh well. Love these little munchkins!

And by the time we tried a photo with Grandpa, Jack was OVER it! Sorry Dad!

Three Men and a Baby

We are staying with my parents at the moment for a month, as Hubby has several remodeling projects here, which is a huge blessing! And we're keeping Dad company as Mum is away in the UK for two weeks, taking my Granny on a tour of England and Wales. They get back next week and I can't wait to have Mum back and get to see Gran again. We saw her last year when we visited Cape Town. Actually I found out I was pregnant just after we arrived at her house! So she's never met Sophia, or my sister and brother's newest babies, so she will be visiting us all in June for a bit as well.

Anyway, all that to say, while Hubby works, the kiddos and I are enjoying this wonderful big house and garden and some gorgeous weather. There are lots of flowers out in the garden, including some AMAZING pink peonies that are blooming themselves silly this week!

In addition to all this loveliness, my best college bud, who lives not too far away, drove up for two days earlier this week with her two boys. We had a great time with them and SO appreciated her making the drive to spend some time with me. Jack was beyond excited to have his "fwends" spend the night, and although he had a bit of trouble sharing his toys when it actually came down to it, he got along with the boys pretty well and was in a perpetual state of excitement their entire visit. Sophia just sat back and enjoyed watching the three little men get into all sorts of trouble!

We packed a lot into our 48 hours together: a trip to Goodwill, a walk with the strollers, bubble and sidewalk chalk with the kiddos, baking cookies, and a wonderful adventure to see the riding train that one of my Dad's friends has created in his back yard. The boys were in 7th heaven! Mr. Mike was so sweet to let us all ride the train, visit his workshop where all his model trains are and play on the swingset in his backyard. And of course baths were needed by one and all at the end of the day!

Liesl with her two boys and Sophia

All the kiddos loaded up for a trip to the thrift store, one of mine and Liesl's favorite things to do during our college years!

Ready to ride the rails!

Chugging along...kind Mr. Mike drove them around the track about 10 times!

Miss Sophie's first photo with a train

Our only photo together. Oh well! We made shortbread cookies in the shape of tea pots. Cute!

Thanks for coming to visit Lies! Good memories and hopefully we'll meet you in your neck of the woods soon!

Five Months Old

This sweet little girl is five months old today! Still as happy as ever, she continues to bring us so much joy. Since finding out her tests are all negative and she's been growing a bit better, I've been able to relax a little and not worry about her so much. She is still a very small little thing, weighing in at 11.6 lbs on Monday, and we are continuing the concentrated formula bottles and frequent feedings. We introduced rice cereal this week and while she didn't object to it, she certainly didn't gobble it down. Typical reaction to food of any kind with this baby, it seems! 

She can roll from tummy to back, but not back again, so we're working on that, but she loves to push off with her legs and "stand" in our laps. She smiles and coos a lot and has started to say "ga", as well as squealing when she wants attention.

She adores her big brother and he finds it very amusing that she now grabs his hair when he gets near her. They are really cute together! 

Well, that's about it...we love our Sophia Joy and cannot get enough cuddles from this baby...I swear I'm going to kiss her skin right off one of these days!

Thank you, Lord!

It is with HUGE relief and very thankful hearts that we report that our little Sophie passed all her tests with flying colors and seems to be doing so much better! Due to her failure to thrive diagnosis and lack of appetite/growth the past few months, she began undergoing testing over the last 10 days for a variety of things.

Sporting her hospital bracelet after some tests. Sweet girl didn't cry once, through all these appointments!

The Lord was very good to us in giving us real peace through the process, kind efficient doctors, and very quick test results each time. Thank you all for praying! To summarize, her blood tests and sweat test (for cystic fibrosis) are all normal/negative. The cyst on the back of her throat is benign (praise God!), but does need to be removed and that surgery is scheduled for June 5. The ENT, who looked at the cyst, also found an ear infection and prescribed antibiotics which we started last Friday. And ever since taking the meds, she has been finishing bottles and, drumroll please, has gained 11 oz in a week!!!! We think she may have had an underlying infection that the antibiotics have resolved. So now her body can use all those calories to add weight rather than fighting some nasty-ness going on!

But all this gallivanting, prodding and poking had her all tired out!

It is so good to see her a little more interested in her bottle and also to see the scale tipping 11 pounds now. And it's just good not to be worrying for her. Another very kind reassurance the Lord gave us this week was that she reached several milestones during all this testing:

She found her feet and now plays with them all the time

She started grabbing, batting and holding her toys

She rolled over from tummy to back (she sleeps on her stomach and is quite upset when she ends up on her back; that makes for fun nap times, let me tell you!)

Praising God for his grace in giving Sophie her health and allowing her growth to improve! And here's to a doctor-appointment-free month ahead!

Sick Day

This is what we were doing today...bed, Tylenol, doctor, more bed, more Tylenol, lots of liquids, and some snuggles and germ sharing thrown in for good measure. Poor Jack is suffering from some sort of viral thing, main symptom being a high fever. But he ate a bit of dinner tonight, so I think we're on the mend. Here's to hoping Sophie Girl doesn't catch it. But seeing as how they were "sleeping over" today, I have my doubts she's going to escape!

Four Months Old

Our sweet Sophia turned four months old on Monday. It seems she is really leaving the newborn stage and becoming an older baby. She hands out smiles liberally and loves anyone paying her attention. Jack likes to play near her now and offers her toys often. She loves watching him.



At her four month check yesterday she weighed in at 10.7 lbs, which is still not great, so we're trying to be proactive and are working with the doc to figure out what's going on with her appetite. She is 24 inches though which is good. And she is mostly meeting milestones still.



I still can't believe she's ours and rejoice in her every day. We are so thankful for you Sophia Joy!