Roman's Dictionary

Still, at 4 years old, Roman cannot pronounce everything perfectly. I love the words he comes up with!

Avocado: Adacodo
Forget: Re-get
Color: Cluler

Bailey's Dictionary

Blueberries: Boop
Milk (Bottle?): Bop
Book: Bop
What does the bunny do? Hop, Hop: Bop Bop

Bailey's dictionary

Milk:  Ba
Kitty: DeeDee
Doctor: DaDu
Please: ease
Roman: RoRo
Daddy: Dadeee (empasis at the end)
Mommy: Momeee (emphasis at the end)

Keepsake Question of the Day - Roman

What is one tiny detail about Roman that you love?

We love his mysterious dark brown (almost black) eyes. No one else on either side of the family has eyes as dark as Roman's!

Tried and True Essential Oil Recipes

I began using Young Living essential oils back in May 2015. I was very skeptical at first, but began to quickly fall in love! They have been very necessary throughout my pregnancy as I have been trying to eliminate as many over-the-counter and prescription drugs as possible. These have been the following medications I have been able to eliminate through the use essential oils:

1. Ambien
2. Atralin (topical acne medication)
3. Nexium/Pepcid/Tums
4. Topical pain relief (local anesthetic) cream for scar
5. Aquaphor 

Sleep

I diffuse lavender and/or tangerine at night for sleep.

Blemishes (Thank you, Kristie, for this recipe!)

Serum

Ingredients:
1 TBSP rose hip oil
4 drops lavender
4 drops Frankincense

Mix ingredients in 1 oz. dropper

Bug Bites

Combine Purification, lavender, and peppermint. Apply cold compress for 15 minutes for instant relief.

Liquid Ambien

20 drops lavender

7 drops vetiver

7 drops cedarwood

7 drops Roman chamomile

Fill remainder of a 5 mL bottle with sweet almond oil (or choice of carrier oil). Roll on wrist, feet, and/or back of neck.

Keepsake question of the day - Roman & Bailey

What makes being Roman & Bailey's parent special?

It is such a blessing to be entrusted with the lives of these precious children! I am comforted in knowing that their lives are ultimately in God's hands, and God gives me the grace and strength every moment of every day to care for them.  What makes being their parent particularly special is knowing that both Roman and Bailey are MIRACLES of God.  I pray that I would not take these blessings for granted in the moments of frustration and exasperation.

Keepsake question of the day - Bailey

What is Bailey especially good at?

• Climbing up onto the step-stool (and low chairs, as well)
• Taking care of Dolly
• Knocking down towers that Roman so carefully built
• Making messes
• Standing next to furniture and holding on with only ONE hand

Keepsake question of the day - Roman

What is Roman especially good at?

• Delaying bedtime
• Taking care of baby sister
• Being a "helper"
• Making muffins
• Getting the mail
• Carrying things for Mommy
• Feeding Bailey
• Entertaining baby sister
• Playing pretend and imaginative play
• Fireman
• Train conductor
• Handyman
• Giving compliments
• Roman is always the first to say, "You look so pretty, Mommy!" Melts my heart every time!
• He also tells Bailey how pretty she looks when she has her bow on
• "I love your necklace," is another favorite compliment
• Being thankful
• "Thank you for making dinner, Mommy!" He says this almost every night
• "Thank you for putting strawberries in my lunch!" This was today 😊

AND...

• Just today, Roman figured out how to use his pinwheel to reach and open the chain lock on our front door. Eek! We installed that chain lock specifically to make sure kids do not "escape" the house, and now it is useless. Ha!

Bailey Update

Bailey has developed the cutest little personality in the past couple of months! She loves to play with big brother, care for Dolly, and drink milk!

Bailey's favorite foods:

• blueberries
• beans of all kinds (she loved the chili & beans sample they had at Sam's Club yesterday!)
• bananas
• avocado
• chicken (she likes nuggets or breaded chicken best)
• sausage (just like big brother!)
• black olives
• hot dogs (and if you give her a corn dog, she will only eat the inside "meat" part!)
• whole milk (she sometimes fills up on this one, losing her appetite for any solid foods!)

Bailey's words:

• Dada: Daddy
• Mama: Mommy
• Da͜ɪda͜ɪ: Dolly
• docks: socks
• uh-ohs: Uh-oh (she just recently started adding the "s" to the end)
• ease: please (but sometimes she skips the word and just uses her sign)
• hi: Hi! (this was probably her first word)
• dat: that (another first word...she likes to point to everything and say, "dat, dat, dat!")
• nigh-nigh: night-night
• opes: oops!
• ba: book, ball

Favorites:

• Dancing to the music on the "Sit 'N Spin" and attempting to sit on it (albeit backwards!)
• Sitting pretty much in any small (or unique) space she can find

• playing with big brother
• going on rides in the laundry basket

• feeding and carrying around dolly

Bailey's not a big fan of swings yet, even though we managed to capture this moment of her NOT crying in a swing!

• building towers on her pegboard
• rocking in mini rocking chairs
• pulling up to standing and holding on with just one hand!
• playing peek-a-boo by pulling up her shirt during diaper changes
• sitting on the dishwasher
• playing with the robotic vacuum (and turning it on/off)
• turning on/off the lights with the light switch
• Bailey can point to all of the parts of her body (nose, ears, mouth, belly, hands, etc.)
• going on walks (she gets so relaxed she falls asleep sometimes)

Celebrating Roman's #4

We celebrated Roman's 4th birthday today! Hard to believe he is already four! This is the first year he specifically asked to have friends at his birthday. He loved seeing so many friends and family there to celebrate with him.  We celebrated BIG with lots of pizza and cookie cake. Roman made sure we knew he wanted an "M&M cake" in the days leading up to his party. We didn't have an M&M cake (mostly because you can't order it from Sam's Club!), but we did let Roman add as many M&M's as he wanted to the top of his cookie cake. Roman loved all of his gifts:

• Train conductor dress-up set
• Crayola window cling maker, balloon, and M&M's
• Remote control car (Daddy may like this more than Roman!)
• Bubbles!
• Children's Theology book
• Walkie Talkies, Contigo insulated cup, ambulance, table & chair set, college fund
• Toad & Frog book, Superman car, opposites card match game
• Pop-up card & spending money

Roman: "These are the things I like," as he heads to his room to keep them close by during naptime.

Papa G and Bailey there to celebrate with Roman

2016 State of the Union

Once again, we look back at the year to see how God has worked in this union that we call our family. As we reminisce on 2016, we discover that our blessings are more than we can count.  God is faithful, every moment of every day!!!  We will try to highlight a few of the blessings and trials as we recap our year.

Blessings:

1. Bailey graced us with her presence January 2016. She was 5 days late, weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce and 21 inches long. We are in love! Bailey has been an easy baby and excellent sleeper from the beginning. We praise God for her every single day 
2. I was able to nurse Bailey for 13 beautiful months! Unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to nurse Roman. I do not regret this, nor do wish I had been able to nurse Roman. He thrived on bottles and formula feedings, and I truly believe this was what God wanted for us.
3. We were thankful to travel throughout Texas on small road trips in 2016: 

• In March 2016 was Bailey's first road trip to the Dallas area to celebrate the first birthdays of cousins Emma & Ezra. It also happened to be the first time for her to sleep through the night...score! 

• May 2016 was our last time to visit Uncle Dan & Aunt Claire before they moved! We took Bailey & Roman to the San Antonio Zoo for the first time. Great memories!

• Our annual Port Aransas trip was August 2016. It was great to have Jonathan's Grandma, Mom, and all of his siblings (and their families) there for this special family vacation. Jonathan's Uncle Rob even made a surprise appearance, all the way from New York!

• October 2016 marked another trip to the Dallas area to celebrate cousin William's birthday at the Fort Worth Zoo (and we got to visit Magnolia Market in Waco for the first time on our way to Dallas).

• December 2016 was our last trip to the Dallas area for the year. We enjoyed seeing the Roberts' new home and celebrating NYE at the Gaylord Texan. The ICE exhibit at the Gaylord was outstanding! It (literally) took your breath away at 9 degrees Fahrenheit! 

Trials that God so Faithfully brought us through:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

~James 1:2-4~

1. Replacing an entire fence that was only 2 years old! UGH. The handyman who put in the fence originally did not do it correctly. Hiring the wrong person in the beginning turned out to be an expensive mistake! We are thankful to our new handyman, Dari Shelton of Shelton Home Services. His rebuilt fence was strong enough to withstand even a strong windstorm in the beginning of 2017.
2. Nursing! Yes, it was a blessing, but also a huge adjustment and learning curve. I had no idea! I felt like a new mom again. Bailey had issues nursing in the beginning, and she also decided to go on a "nursing strike" for an entire week when she was only a couple of weeks old. But God got us through this difficult first month, and it was a blessing in the end!
3. Sleepless nights and adjusting to having a newborn in the house again. Thankful for my sweet husband, Jonathan! He took the night shift until Bailey slept through the night. That meant we didn't see each other as often in the beginning, but we made it through!  Praise God!

We know that blessings are not a guarantee in this life. We also know that trials are inevitable. But when we compare our current sufferings to the immeasurable worth of being in the presence of God for eternity, these afflictions are light and momentary (See Romans 8:18 and II Corinthians 4:17).