Bloofle

So far we've been pretty good at teaching Isabelle French and English. Becca speaks only english to her and I french.

However, there is one word that has become completely frenglish in Isabelle's vocabulary: "bloofle". It is to "blow" and "souffler" at the same time. Becca and I have tried to correct her several times in either french or english but she is persuaded that the word/verb is 'bloofle"!

Anya's Blessing

We had Anya's baby blessing at church a week ago on the 7th. Charles gave her a beautiful blessing. We had a lot of family there, which made it extra special.

Anya wore the same dress that Isabelle wore for her blessing. Carol's mother-in-law had made it for the twins and now my girls both got to wear it. It is absolutely beautiful!

Our little family of 4

All of the family who was there (except Jacob, I think he had already gone to Primary).

Roland, my mom and us

Charles mom has been here since the middle of January, but his dad came for about two weeks and the one Sunday he was here was the day we blessed Anya Noelle. It worked out perfectly!

My dad came over from Melbourne for the special day!

Thank you everyone for helping make Anya's day one to remember!

Sisters

Isabelle absolutely adores Anya. She is constantly giving her hugs and kisses. It such a tender thing to see how much she loves her sister. It really makes my heart melt. I guess whenever Isabelle would hug or kiss Anya we would all say "Awe, so sweet," because now Isabelle will give her a hug or kiss and then she says "Awe, so sweet." It truly is sweet.

Isabelle often asks to hold Anya... as you can tell, we are still working on this...

I don't know how much Anya will trust Isa after she decided she was done holding her and just let go of her. Fortunately, I was there to catch her (after I got a picture of course).

Having a new baby sister has been an adjustment for Isabelle as well. While she adores her sister, she has become a little more needy of momma and papa. She still does all her cute things to make sure we notice her and of course we do. We're trying hard to make sure she still feels special and hopefully we are doing a good job at it. I know she is going to be a great big sister, she already is!

I wore this dress in my mom's cousin's wedding. Isabelle saw it and said it is "so, so beautiful." Of course now she wears it all the time.

Miss Anya's First 6 Weeks

Little Miss Anya Noelle is 6 and 1/2 weeks old already. She truly is a bundle of joy. It seems like she changes everyday. She has definitely gotten a lot bigger. I feel like she is already losing that "newborn look." It is fun to see her start smiling and interacting. Life with two kids is definitely an adjustment. Fortunately we have had a lot of help from family. First Charles' sister Elise was here and then my sister Carol stayed with us for about 10 days and then Charles' mom flew in to help out. She will be here another week and a half. Aside from in home help we have also had a lot of help from my mom and sisters who live in town. So I guess we will really find out what it is like to have two kids once my mother-in-law leaves. It's funny how getting just one kid ready seems so easy now!

My healing process was a ton easier this time. I attribute that mainly to the epidural and working out throughout my pregnancy. I was able to get back to the gym at 3 weeks and it felt great to be back. I probably could have gone even sooner, but I didn't want to push it too much.

Anya Noelle still spends a lot of her time sleeping. She sleeps great through the day, but we are still working on the night. At first she would only sleep at night if we were holding her. Fortunately, she is outgrowing that. Most nights she gets up once or twice to eat and then goes back to sleep, but we do still have that occasional night where it seems like she wont sleep and is wide awake. Luckily, she usually isn't fussy during that time.

Grandpa & his 3 youngest girls! Addi was having fun with Anya, but I dont think Anya liked it.

My Dad and Deana have been able to come over from Melbourne several times since Anya was born. Deana brought dinner a couple times, which was fabulous!