Springtime at the Russell House

To try to recap the past 5 months would be ridiculous, so I won't even try! Suffice it to say, it has been full! Lila will be 6 months old in a couple of weeks and that completely amazes me. Time truly does fly. Life is beginning to be a little more manageable at this point - we've had a whole week of Lila sleeping through the night & not waking up to eat! It is a huge accomplishment, and I think drastically affects the way I view the world (or at least mine). This first 6 months of Lila's life has been full of joy, but I can tell you it has not been easy! She is a very sweet, smiley baby & really besides not being a great sleeper, she's been an easy baby for the most part. It has just been a long transition for all of us in the Russell family! But I think we're finally settling into a groove & becoming comfortable with our family of 5 status :). Here's a quick update on each of the Russells:

Lila - what a cutie! She is rolling everywhere & has even begun scooting herself around to get just about whatever she wants (within a few feet radius anyway!). She smiles constantly & completely adores her two big sisters. She has recently begun taking a bottle again(woohoo!) after several months of out & out refusing it. Her daddy & I are ready for a date! She's fairly quiet compared to her sisters at this age, but she makes herself heard when necessary! She seems to have a pretty even temperment for the most part, though she still would love to be held 95% of the time. She went through a pretty severe mommy phase, but she's mostly over that for now. She does seem to be pretty sensitive, and the girls startle her constantly. She loves to stand up & is very strong! She looks so much like her sisters, except for the fact that Emma & Addie had a lot of hair at this point in their little lives- having a mostly bald baby is new to us. She is in that sweet stage where they put their toes in their mouths - adorable. I'm trying to enjoy every phase she goes through since we know she's our last baby. It's a strange feeling knowing that we're doing a lot of "lasts" right now, but its not all bad :). I find myself wanting to squeeze her & hold her as much as I possibly can (and I'm beginning to see how the baby of the family gets their reputation for being a little spoiled!).

Addie - This kid is a mess! She is precious, and such a stinker all at the same time! She has the most tender little heart and can be so empathetic and kind, but she can whine with the best of them. She has taken after her big sister & is extremely dramatic and sensitive. Her teachers at preschool have told us they crack up at how she will be standing all alone in part of the room & start crying saying, "Blake pushed me!" and fuss & whine when no one was anywhere near her! There's been a bit of an adjustment to the amount of attention she gets these days...and on that note, I can tell you we have begun the best thing for my girls in a long time - every day I have at least 30 minutes of "mommy time" with both the big girls, by themselves, doing whatever they would like to do with me. It has revolutionized our home! Addie especially needed this one-on-one time with me, and it has been great for all of us. As you can tell from the photos, potty training has finally begun - without much success! We may be putting it off a little longer, but we're getting closer to her being three, and it is time!!

Addie is so precious, and I'm really not looking forward to her growing out of some of the cute ways she says things. For instance, she has a really hard time with "sp" and says "f" instead, so we hear "I fy something pink" or someone needs a "fankin' with the fankin' foon". She's reminding me so much of our sweet friend Ava who did the same thing. Some of my favorites are "farkly" and "fecial". She also says see you "ta-yata" - it makes sense, today, tomorrow, tolater :). She says someone is "pieing" at her when they're smiling, and she almost always introduces Lila to everyone (even people who clearly know her) saying, "This is my fwiend Wiwa". I'm so glad they're already friends!


Emma continues to be so sweet, and such a good helper! She loves to help with both her sisters, but Lila appreciates it a little more :). She is almost finished with pre-school & we recently registered her for kindergarten! Amazing! She has seemed ready for it for a long time, so in a lot of ways, we're all ready for her to go. On the other hand, it was a little overwhelming for both of us to walk around the big school she will attend with all the big kids & think about her busy schedule next year. I'm determined to soak up the next couple of months while I still have her all to myself. She loves to color & draw & write, so we have enrolled her in art lessons for the summer which I think she will love. Swimming is one of her favorite things, too & I hear the question almost daily, "Can we swim yet?". Soon enough that will be our life!

Aren't these some great photos my mom took? I love how she captured my girls & their little personalities so beautifully. You can tell which are my snapshots, and I love those moments too, but my mom is amazing!

Corey - We're gearing up for an upcoming trip for Corey to Uganda to visit our church's missionaries who are developing a Christian Liberal Arts University there. It's very exciting & I'm looking forward to hearing about the experiences he will have there! It's an amazing work & I can't wait to learn even more about what's going on there. I also have to take a moment to say that lately I have become increasingly aware of what an amazing guy I'm married to! Maybe its because our 10th anniversary is coming up, or maybe its because he's really stepped up to the plate with baby number 3 coming into our lives. That's not to say he didn't help out before - he has always been one of the most hands-on, involved dads I know. I just mean that for us having three kids is pretty all-consuming, and he's a true partner with me in all of it. It is really neat to be at this point in our lives & truly say I love him more now than I did when we said "I do" 10 years ago. He's pretty cool :).

Me - see above. That's my life & I love it! I still want to pull my hair out on a semi-regular basis, but the truth is, I wouldn't be doing anything else. I've never had another job that was this difficult, but I've also never where I had moments of pure joy in every day. Thank you Lord for equipping me to do what you've called me to do!