Milayla's Latest

Milayla has come a long way in the last 4 months and we are so proud of her. Her appointments have been going so well that we are now appointment free until her 2 year check up! So I thought it was a good time to post a few photos of our cheeky girl and what she has been up to.

Milayla is officially a walker, runner and dancer. There are very few things that she will sit still for because she prefers to be on the move. We are pretty happy to see that most of her physical abilities not only meet, but exceed where she should be at for her age group. That is a lot in just 4 short months. We are so proud of her determination.

And, boy, have we loved seeing her love for books really take off. She seems to always be carrying a book around with her. Lately she has taken a particular liking to one of my books though, which I think may be a bit beyond her reading level but that doesn't stop her from carrying it around with her, "reading it" and crawling up on my lap to have some of it read to her.

In case you can't read that blurry writing, it is Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E Frankl  - just a little light reading ;) that she went straight for after bath time

Then there is Milayla's ever increasing personality. She is such a sweet, happy spirit and is always ready for an adventure. And you always need shoes to go on an adventure. Milayla loves her shoes and loves trying on everyone else's shoes too.

And she is so helpful around the house, always doing her part to clean up the toys, put away laundry, clean up her room and clear the table after meals. And she is so smart at figuring out how things work!

She isn't talking quite as much as we would like to see (though that is quite common for children exposed to multiple languages), but her baby sign language has really taken off and she is doing so much better at communicating with us.

It's been fun seeing her figure out new talents, skills and words and getting all those lovely cuddles, kisses and hugs. It is such a pleasure being her mom!

Artwork

The latest artwork from the kiddos.

Here's Milayla's latest masterpiece. I love the bright colours that she always picks. Also, I love seeing her trying to mimic shapes that she sees Atticus and I drawing.

And here are Atticus' latest doodles. 

We've noticed lately that Atticus thought every time that he woke up it was a new day. So, after bedtime it was a new day as well as after nap time. So I did a little art project with him one day about the different things that we do in morning, afternoon and evening and how all of those make up a day. I think he did a pretty great job; especially on that bed of his which even includes the shoe rack at the end of the bend. Impressive!

And then this great doodle was something he came up with during church. This is our family riding the train. I was a little curious who all the people were so I asked him who each of them were. Turns out there is a man at the front driving the train, then there is Mommy behind him, and Daddy behind her and then Milayla in the last row. And all those little people in the top row? Those are babies; lots and lots of babies. So, where is Atticus on this train ride? When I asked him where he was he matter-of-factly told me that he was sitting on the other side of Milayla so you can't see him from this side. I am quite impressed at his understanding of perspective.

I love seeing what these little ones come up with!

Wishes for warmer weather

The weather here has been playing some cruel tricks on us. We will go well over a week without seeing the sun and have to bundle up significantly. Then we will get a couple days of sunshine, blue skies, and warmth that has even warranted light, spring jackets. Then it is back to the freezing cold (in the vicinity of -12 Celsius - yuck!). The poor little early spring flowers don't seem to know what to do! I'm praying that with Easter, the warmer spring weather will come along soon. In the meantime, we are trying to make the most of every chance to get to soak in the sun, no matter how rare it might be. So we've been spending a lot of time out back working on our climbing skills. 

Cannot wait for some more sunshine around here!

He is Risen!

He is not here, but is risen (Luke 25:6)

Things that make me smile (2nd edition)

Just a few things that always put a smile on my face...

Like these two climbing into the chair together to read books. 

And seeing them being good sports about a little bit of teasing. 

And how excited the kids get about seeing the sun (we seem to get awfully long strings of grey days in Bremen, so when the sun comes out we get pretty excited!). On this particular day it had been well over a week and Atticus was so excited he ran to get my phone to take a picture.

And then he got caught taking a picture on Mommy's phone without asking....

And when the clouds cleared in time to see the sun setting behind the apartments and trees Atticus couldn't resist asking to take another photo. I love seeing these kids enjoying the beauty around them.

And then there is the excitement that this little girl gets about brushing her teeth. I am so glad she enjoys it so much. We had a period with her where it was quite the fight to get those teeth brushed. It is a nice reminder that (most) everything is just a phase that will pass (sometimes with a needed little push).

And even better is watching Milayla try different kind of smiles for each photo :)

A pretty common camera smile

her 'show me your teeth' smile :)

Then there is this blurry, yellow-bathed photo of my Dancing Blurs at a Family Dance we had at our church recently. Not surprisingly, we all danced up a storm. I'm pretty sure Milayla was ready to fall asleep on her feet by the time we made it home (long after her bedtime...). Atticus really broke out all his dance moves and when we were leaving he remarked that it was "a good thing I (atticus) wore my dancing shoes because I dance a LOT.". Yes, we all did dance a lot!

I love having so many reasons to smile. 

Milayla and her Perch

We have a small marble step that leads up to our big glass door at our balcony. It is seemingly insignificant to many, but not to our little girl. That step is one of her favorite places to hang out. If it's snowing, raining or sunny (the latter seeming to be quite rare around here lately) she likes to check out what's going on outside there. If we are rolling a ball to each other, she runs over the door and sits on the step to roll/kick the ball from there. If she is hungry for dinner but dinner is not quite ready yet, she prefers to sit on the step instead of in her high chair. It's peculiar, but oh so very cute. We've dubbed it her perch, because from that spot she loves to watch everything.

We're not quite sure why she has taken such a liking to her perch; maybe it's because it's the best vantage point to see outside, maybe it's because it's the only step that we have in the apartment (no stairs..) or maybe it's the close proximity to the table so she can make sure she isn't late for dinner. But, most likely, it's for her own reasons that we'll probably never quite know and we're okay with that.

Her favorite thing to do most recently is to stock the activity walker with books, wheel it over to her perch and sit down to read. It's her favorite place to read (next to cuddling under a blanket on the couch with Mommy or Daddy).

Love her silly smiles and creative perspective. 

She'll invite us to come read books with her and we happily oblige her. On this particular day Atticus ran to help with reading. Atticus isn't reading yet but he will point out and name the things in the pictures (because that's what he sees us do with her) and spell out the words on the pages (and even try to sound out a few of them; or at least some of the letters :)! ). 

It's cute. And I am happy they get along so well. 

Mind you, it isn't always this picture perfect, but I am happy to see them learning together, practicing communication, and working on building a very special sibling relationship. Good moments. I love these two. 

Easter is nearly here

Did you know we are only one week away from Easter? Well, actually, if you are like many families out there, you will probably have some special events going on this coming week like we do.

We love Easter around here. We count down to it starting 30 days prior as we read through progressive sections of The Living Christ (which we memorized a couple years back. And we got the idea and the free printables for the easter countdown here). All sorts of Savior-centred music fills our home more every day. We focus our family scripture study on the Saviour, the atonement and the resurrection and what exactly that means for us. We sing more (which Atticus pointed out to me is not such an easy feat as we sing a lot around here). We make bouquets of lillies. We watch video clips of the Saviours ministry. We slow down more. We simplify (at least, we try!).

I love Easter because it is where the feeling of Christmas emanates from. "There would be no Christmas if there was no Easter. The fact that he was resurrected gave credibility to his whole life's mission, and that's the essence of it." (President Gordon B. Hinckley). Easter is where testimonies are fueled, faith reaffirmed, miracles concreted, and a truer realization of eternities realized. My soul seems to yearn for Easter; to revisit the garden, to stand before Christ on the cross, to celebrate that glorious Easter morning and, most importantly, to remember that he did it all for us in an act of unselfish love. 

I feel a deep sense of gratitude to my Saviour for what he did for us so that we could live with our Father in Heaven again. Yet even with my gratitude, my service, and my testimony I know that it will never be enough to repay the sacrifice he made for me to become my Redeemer. Though, even with that in mind I will continue to thank him and do my best to live my life in a way that is representational of my gratitude (and there are certainly some days where I need a merciful hand extended to me from my Saviour more than I would like..). 

As Jason and I try our best to create a home (and experiences) that will plant seeds of testimony into the fertile soil of our children's hearts I pray that those seeds will take root, and that wonderful memories will be made; not memories of the crafts we did or the food we ate but rather of the feelings we felt and the love that abounded for each other and for our Saviour. It's a large order, I realize that, but I know that it can happen if we give it all we can and put the rest in His hands, our Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

We hope everyone has a wonderful Easter Week; celebrating the life, death and resurrection of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

To help you get into the Spirit of this coming week, please listen to this song below. It is from one of our favorite CD's from composer, Rob Gardner, that we love to listen to, particularly at this time of year. The CD is called 'Lamb of God'.

 Enjoy!