Friday, January 29, 2010

Sarah Beth

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

I have had longer hair for quite some time, ever since I had it cut boy short in the fifth grade. I always hated having short hair as a kid, but it was easier to take care of that way.

I thought about having all my hair "chopped off" when I was pregnant with Sarah. My Mom suggested I hold off until I was no longer pregnant-I could regret my decision that may have been driven by hormones. So now Sarah is 3 1/2 months old and I still wanted a change. This may or may not be related to the fact that I'll be entering my thirties tomorrow.

I got my hair cut this afternoon in a much different style than I'm used to. It is shorter in the back and longer in the front. Good thing is I think I like it so far.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Play Time

I won't bog this entry down with a bunch of words, just a few pictures of the girls playing:

Here is Abigail playing with her ball. She likes to kick it and say "kick" and also sometimes has Elmo kick it as well.


Here she is coloring. When we first introduced coloring, Abigail was more interested in moving crayons in and out of the box and occasionally trying to eat them. Now she actually colors! Sometimes we still catch her putting them in her mouth though :-)


Sarah has been reaching for toys for a little while now.

Sarah's Dedication

We dedicated Sarah to the Lord on Sunday, January 17 at our home church, GENESIS. We were happy that so much of our family was able to share this important event with us. I was struck by how big a deal this was as I stood on stage and our Pastor asked us if we would commit to (1) love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength-keeping Jesus Christ as our first love (2) provide a home that would model to Sarah what it means to love God and love others and (3) care and provide for Sarah, teaching and training her in the truths about Christianity and Jesus so one day (by God's grace) she may receive Him as her Lord and Savior. Raising a child is a big deal! Please pray for Jonathan and I, that we would remember the commitment we made in raising both Sarah and Abigail and that we would follow through on our commitment.

Sarah wore only part of the special gown that has been a part of my family for decades. This gown was made out of fabric from my Great Aunt Anne's wedding dress. My aunt, uncles, mom, cousins, and siblings were all baptized, christened, or dedicated in the gown (including me). Anyway, she only wore the inner layer because the outer layer simply was too small. I'm hoping to get her back into the inner layer and lay the outer layer on top so we can get a picture of her in the gown. In the meantime, here is a picture from the dedication and a picture of Sarah at home the same day:


Friday, January 15, 2010

What do You Think?

A lot of people have been commenting on how much Sarah looks like Abigail. I felt the same way when Sarah was born. However, the older Sarah gets, the more I think she doesn't look like Abigail. They definitely make some of the same expressions though. I thought it would be fun to post pictures of the girls at the same age and I'll let you be the judge!

Abigail - Few Days Old

Sarah - Few Days Old

Abigail - One Month

Sarah - One Month

Abigail - Three Months

Sarah - Three Months

Three Months

Sarah has now reached the three month mark. She spends most of her day eating, sleeping, smiling, and receiving kisses from Abigail. She is getting really good at holding her head and shoulders up during tummy time. She is also now reaching for and grabbing toys. Once Sarah started sleeping for five hours straight at night we started putting her in the crib in the girls' room. After her very early morning feeding though, we put her in the pack and play in our room so Abigail doesn't wake her up. So far things are working well.


While we are adjusting fairly well to having two under two we still have our share of challenges. Sarah isn't the best eater and Abigail doesn't always get the attention she wants. As hard as things get and despite being stressed God blesses me with huge smiles from Sarah and random, unsolicited hugs and kisses from Abigail.


Speaking of Abigail, she is adding more words to her vocabulary almost daily, which is encouraging. I especially like the way she says "turtle". Soon she'll be piecing together sentences!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Now I Know My ABC's (Well, Sort Of)

A few months ago we thought it would be a good idea to get a poster for Abigail of the alphabet. We thought it might be a good thing to go over it occasionally to mix up her daily routine. Well, lately Abigail has been adding words to her vocabulary and has also caught on to the alphabet! It is amazing to me how quickly she learns new things. Here is a clip of her reciting her ABC's. She can't quite say them all right, but you can tell she has an idea of what each letter is.


Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!

We spent our New Year's having a sleepover at Nonna and Papa McEvoy and my Grandparents house. We had a great time, but Abigail sure was exhausted when all was said and done.

Because of the occasion, we let Abigail stay up past her bedtime. We watched the Hokies beat the Tennessee Volunteers in the Chic-Fil-A Bowl. Abigail was in bed before the second half.


Most of the adults in the house made it till the ball drop. Jonathan and I rang in the New Year and were ready to call it a night. Just after sneaking into the guestroom where the girls were already sleeping Sarah woke up for an after-midnight snack. She was soon back in bed. Around 4:00 AM Abigail woke up and was excited to see us there-so much so that she wasn't sleeping again for another hour. Soon after she was snoozing again, Sarah woke up to eat again!

Anyway, enough of our sleeping adventures. We spent the first day of the New Year watching football and fooling around. Abigail had a blast with Nonna and Papa and also with Auntie Laura and Uncle Nick. We just had a few bumps in the day. On two separate occassions Abigail took a tumble down half a flight of stairs. Before leaving for the day she was super fussy-mainly due to exhaustion.

Abigail ended her first day of 2010 with a doze in the car, a sippy of milk, and falling asleep in my arms after shedding a few tears. As she was falling asleep I looked at her and realized she's not a baby anymore! I am so happy to watch her personality develop, but it is bittersweet knowing my baby is a little girl now. She is growing up so fast-right before my eyes!

Happy New Year everyone!