My sweet girls & a late birthday shout out

Although my last post was an update on Sally Sharp, I failed to mention she is now over a month old! Hard to believe. She is becoming more interactive, and it is fun to watch her discover her surroundings. Yesterday Avi asked if she could hold Sally Sharp if she did it "real slow, mama!" We opted instead to have SS sit next to her. Avi was satisfied with that, thankfully. However, Sally Sharp wasn't too happy by the time we got around to this, so it didn't last long! Oh, and yes, Avi has her shirt on backwards. She put it on "all by myself" and we just never turned it around!

Yesterday was DREW'S BIRTHDAY. We gave him a "free afternoon" (did I mention I am teaching a 10th grade girls Sunday School class and Drew stays home with SS while Avi and I go to Sunday School?? So, he didn't get the whole day.) to do whatever he wanted to do. While he was out of the house yesterday afternoon, Avi and I planned to make him a birthday cake. We were doing great and Avi was very excited about getting to stir the cake batter...until I realized I made a major goof. Instead of putting 1 and 1/4 cups of water in the mix, I put 1 and 1/4 VEGETABLE OIL in the cake mix. Needless to say the cake was ruined, and the worst part was I didn't have another cake mix in the house (don't judge...I don't have time to make a cake from scratch). So, we had to confess to Drew what I had done when he got home, and he had to do without a cake. Sad, but the realities of having 2 kids I guess. If it had been just Avi and I at home, we would have run to the store to get another mix, but Sally Sharp kind of threw a wrench into "running" to the store, ha! All that to say, Happy Birthday, Drew (one day late)!! We love you and thank you for being such a great dad.

We got the play mat out about a week ago, and I just started putting Sally Sharp on it at the end of last week. She loves the mirror and just looks at herself for about 10 minutes straight. She also likes to kick her feet while on the mat. Of course, Avi loves to get on the mat with her. Avi is very sweet to SS. She pats her on the head and gives her lots of kisses. If SS starts to cry, she says, "It's okay, Sally Sharp, Mommy and Avi are here with you." So sweet.

Finally, the swing. Thank you, Lord, for the swing. We borrowed this from my wonderful friend Cappe, and it has been a hit. She L.O.V.E.S. the swing and the mobile on the swing. Thanks, Cappe for loaning it to us. Makes babyland a lot more bearable! Frees my hands up a good bit!

Sally Sharp Update

I took this picture about 2 weeks ago. Just got a crazy hankering to take a picture in the basket that day. Thought this one was cute.

Sally Sharp took her first bottle last Wednesday, August 18th, when she was 4 weeks old. She did great with it, thankfully. She hasn't had very many bottles, but as time goes on, it will be a nice luxury that will help me have some mommy time.

She's growing lots...this picture is actually about 2 weeks old. She has some cheeks on her.

She also does a good bit of this...we're having some crying issues when feeding these days. Not sure if it is reflux or what seems to be her trouble, but it is frustrating. I'm hoping we find a solution soon!

New Haircut & Gymnastics

I took Avi to get her hair cut on Tuesday. It was long overdue & Drew had been begging me to get her hair cut for months now. We went with a cute short do, and I love it. The above picture is not the best but the ones below show how cute it is on her. She loves it too, thankfully!

So, Avi started a preschool gymnastics class yesterday. She was so excited when I picked her up from school to take her, but when we got there, guess what? She didn't want to do anything her teacher wanted her to do. In fact, she just kept saying, Mommy and clinging to me. Needless to say, I was frustrated :). However, when they got on the trampoline and started jumping, she wanted to do that, and she walked on the low balance beam with my help. At the end, they blew up the jumper castle, and she was so excited! So, the above pictures show the progression of her attitude...not very interested or happy to ecstatic to be sliding down the jumper at the end. The girl is a mess. She promises me she will do better next week. I'm hoping for the best!

Pictures

A very talented former student of mine (and her parents are our Sunday School teachers), Tricia Hopper Butts, took some pictures of the girls last Sunday. She posted a sneak peak on her blog, bettydonnephotography.blogspot.com. Here's a sweet one of both of the girls, but you'll have to head on over to Tricia's blog to see there rest! Didn't she do a great job? Sally Sharp proved somewhat of a difficult subject at first, but then she finally went to sleep. I also love the ones of Avi outside. You can't really tell in the black and white pictures, but they have on matching dresses (thanks SuSu!). Can't wait to get the CD with all the pics. It was great to visit with you, Tricia, and thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to take pictures of Avi and Sally Sharp.

And, don't forget about my friends, Karyn and Michael Brown, who are in Nepal trying to adopt their son. They need your prayers.

BIG PRAYER REQUEST

Hi all. I have no idea if anybody actually reads this blog, but if you are reading this, PLEASE take time to read my friends' blog. My sweet friends are in Nepal right now trying to adopt a beautiful son, and they have run into all sorts of problems. They were matched with their son several weeks ago, and they have been working toward this process for a couple of years. Three days before they were scheduled to depart, the US government suspended adoptions from Nepal. Although ALL of their paperwork was submitted and processed PRIOR to this supension (and they were advised to continue with their trip), they are running into discouraging news now that they are in Nepal.

Yesterday, they posted a plea for our help on their blog: www.newbrownchild.blogspot.com. PLEASE read about their story and spread the word. They need all the prayers and help they can get right now. My heart is broken for them, but I know God can work miracles. We have to have faith that he will perform one for the Browns in Nepal!

And, for those who are interested, the following link explains the suspension of adoptions in Nepal:

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=c720992b8144a210VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

Daddy's Two Girls

I must brag on my husband. Since Sally Sharp was born, he has really done a great job of taking care of Avi Grace. He's been taking her to school in the mornings, feeding her supper, and giving her baths...not that he didn't help with these things before, but he has really taken charge of these things now. I am very grateful for his help. Now, if only I could get him to get up with Sally Sharp in the middle of the night! Just kidding. There's not much he can do right now! In all seriousness, a big thanks to my husband. Also, a big thanks to the grandparents...all the help with picking Avi up from school, letting her spend the night and giving her some special attention has also been a huge help.

Two Week Update

I took Sally Sharp for her two week checkup yesterday. She is growing very nicely! Her stats are:

8 pounds, 13.6 ounces, 90th percentile (8 lbs 1.8 oz. at birth)

20 and 1/4 inches, 75th percentile (19 inches at birth)

Head circumference 35 cm, 50th percentile

Family

We've had lots of company over the past week and a half. Here are some snapshots of our family members with Sally Sharp. There are a few missing that are not on my camera, and I'll post those as soon as I get them from other people.

Nana

Aunt Joan

Uncle Cory

Aunt Susan

Shug

Granddaddy

Mimi

Papa

Cousin John Michael, Aunt Sheri, Cousin Madison

Cousin John Michael

Cousin Madison

Uncle Joel

Aunt Abbi