24 Weeks

Vivs started sitting up all on her own this week!  She seems to have caught on quickly with only a few crashes here and there.  I have to be careful to keep her away from the hardwood - a different experience for us compared to our fully carpeted old house.  Her sisters have been enjoying playing dress up with her, as you can see by the wings and wand.  I think so far she's been a fairy, a vampire, and a bat!

Vivian Rolls Over

Starting yesterday, Vivs has been rolling over every time we stick her on her tummy.  She still complains like crazy while she's doing it, but she's doing it.  We'll take it! 

Lydia Loses a Tooth and Other Randomness

Lydia lost her first tooth this week.  It's actually been loose for weeks, but she babied it, preferring to gently tug and wiggle it with her tongue easing it into greater and greater looseness over time.  At the right moment, it popped out, no blood or anything. Easy peasy.  

Iris has been on the later side of losing teeth, and it appears Lydia may be on the early side, but one thing I want to savor is the memory of Iris kneeling beside Lydia's bed on the first night we discovered Lydia's loose tooth, offering up some big sisterly advice about the best way to wiggle and move her tooth to loosen the "stitches", as they call the roots.

Viverkins turned five months old on Monday. Such a big girl!  This picture shows the face she makes all the time now.  I think it's her way of mimicking the face we always make at her.  Completely adorable, in the words of Iris. She's also started reaching out to touch us and grabbing her toes, and she's almost sitting all by herself.  And she CAN roll from tummy to back, although she won't do it very often.  We made a big deal out of the first time she did it and scared her, and now she stubbornly refuses.  Already a big personality.  She also prefers to be paid attention to...all the time, so we'll be working on that in the months to come.  I'm sure it doesn't help that there is usually always someone to pay attention to her.  I guess that comes from being the littlest.  

Last night, Prescott hosted their annual costume parade, and Todd snapped this right as we were leaving.  Iris is a vampire, and Lydia is sporting my attempt at a homemade bat costume.  Not bad, if I do say so myself.  

First Solids

Overall, things went fine.  She definitely prefers a more soupy texture.  The tears came when I tried to give her a thicker bite, crazy girlie.  I think it scared her.  I'm curious to see how her particular-ness regarding eating will play out with solids.  I probably should start amping up those prayers for patience now!

Eighteen Weeks

 

(sitting like such a big girl!)

Our little lady, or Viv-ster as the girls like to call her, is officially four months old!  It is crazy how fast the times goes by, and I'm pretty sure I've said this a million times, but it really does.   Iris was musing the other day that it seems as though she's always been a part of our family, that it's hard to remember what it was like before she was with us.  How sweet is that? 

She is such an easy baby.  Apart from a rather quirky particularity when it comes to drinking milk, she is so mellow and happy.  And I think I can officially take a break from freaking out over her weight gain and growth as she was 14 lbs, 4 oz and 251/2 in long at her four month check this morning! 

Some of the things I am loving right now:

*Vivian laughing hysterically when either of the girls jump.  I laugh hysterically watching them jump like maniacs trying to get her to laugh.

*Vivian holding on to her toes

*Iris talking sweet baby talk with her and letting Vivian chew and hug her beloved Poochie

*Not doing the 10:30 feeding anymore.  Hallelujah for getting to go to bed whenever I please again!

*Vivian trying to get my attention when someone else is holding her by "talking" loudly so I will notice her  and moving her body towards me.

*Hearing her shriek of delight at hearing me when I go to wake her up from naps

Fifteen Weeks

Twelve Weeks

Nine Weeks

Todd got such a kick out of her surprise at discovering both fists.

 

Our happy girl is growing and developing by leaps and bounds it seems these days.  I've forgotten how much change happens in a week when they're newborns.  And she is seriously such a happy, content little baby.  The only time she ever fusses is if it's time for a nap or I'm trying to wake her up from sleeping, and during tummy time - she loathes tummy time.  This week she started sleeping eight hours from 10:30 pm to 6:30 am. Yay!  She continues to give us big smiles and loves to talk and coo and interact. Oh! And she figured out how to suck her thumb which is the cutest thing ever!  I'm sure it won't be cute when she's two or twelve, but right now it's adorable.  She loves the toys on her bouncy seats and has even started to try to bat at them - if only her hands would cooperate!  The girls continue to be so sweet to her and have been big helps with watching her and playing with her if I need to be doing something else during her waketimes.   

Six Weeks

Five Weeks

This week we hit a little snag with nursing.  I thought things were going well in that department - she was pooping and peeing the appropriate amount, not acting fussy or starving between feedings, sleeping well - but it turns out our little lady is a bit of a "lazy" nurser.  She'd been systematically reducing my milk supply over the past few weeks by drinking less and less at each nursing once the flow got slower, and she had to work harder to get it.  I thought she was just an efficient nurser, but it turns out I was wrong.  She wasn't gaining weight!  So now I am triple feeding - nurse, pump, feed with bottle - in an effort to help her gain weight so that in turn she will hopefully be a better nurser once she's bigger.  I'm not super enthused about having to do this, and I cried buckets when I had to buy formula to supplement because my milk supply was so low, but a few days perspective has made all the difference, and I'm going to persevere and see what happens over the next few weeks.  It actually makes me feel better knowing she'll take a bottle and that formula is an option if things don't work out.  One way or the other she'll get fed, and she IS gaining weight, which is the most important thing.

Lydia Learns to Ride

Four Weeks

This week Vivian has brightened up considerably.  She is so alert during her wake times, making me laugh at how she cranes her neck in my arms as I'm bringing her downstairs to feed her after a nap, trying to absorb as much as she possibly can of this strange new world.  We've been getting some first grins and even coos which has been so precious to see and hear.  

She's a bit more feisty and a bit less sleepy at this age than the girls were, and I've been having a harder time figuring out her rhythms as far as predictable sleeping and eating patterns go.  I feel like the girls fell into that more quickly, but maybe I'm dreaming that.  It's been awhile, maybe I'm viewing their newbornhoods with rose colored glasses.  Todd's been reminding me that this season was hard with them too.  So, I'm praying for A LOT of perseverance and wisdom and courage during these early weeks of adjusting.  I'm so thankful for my older girlies and the knowledge that it gets better with time!

The girls continue to be very sweet towards her.  Iris especially has been sweet with her words and her actions.  This is such a milestone for her as she was pretty vocal about not wanting a sister while I was pregnant! I think it was just fear of the unknown (she takes after her Mom).  It's been such a blessing to see her interact with Vivian.

And so the first month is done. Hard to believe, and the next four weeks should be even more interesting as we get to see more of who she is. 

Tummy Time

At nearly two weeks old, she's already starting to change in so many ways, and it feels like she's been a part of our family for much longer.  We've been laughing hysterically over Lydia's referring to my nursing the baby as my "milking" the baby!

Baby Vivian

Vivian Lorraine Bumgarner

May 21, 2013

9 pounds 14 ounces
21 inches long

First Day of School

First Garden

Chalk

Overheard

On the way home from the new church this evening, I was telling the girls about some friends from Missouri who will soon be moving to Illinois, and Iris pops up with this....

Iris (oh so dramatically): Seriously. Last night I was so homesick for Missouri, I almost cried.

Lydia (totally commiserating): Um, yeah, Iris. I think I heard you.

Maybe you had to actually hear this little exchange to find it as hilarious as I did (for some reason it doesn't seem as funny when I write it down). Iris has been talking of late about wanting to visit our old neighborhood in Missouri for her birthday, but I'm pretty sure she hasn't been in the depths of despair over it! Crazy, crazy girlies. I get such a kick out of hearing them talk to each other.

Pioneers Park + Halloween Pics

We spent the afternoon today at Pioneers Park soaking up some of the gorgeous wild and windy fall weather.

It was so much fun! I can't believe I've never been there before - probably because I'm not really much of a nature girl at heart - but we'll definitely be going back...often! The girls were in heaven. Iris is always at her best when she can roam and explore and seek little adventures. And she's really into wild life at the moment, although we didn't actually see any except for one ginormous moose (elk?), and him only from afar poised majestically on a hill. The park also houses a small number of buffalo, but sadly, much to Lydia's disappointment, we didn't get to see any. She was hoping to meet some of Buffy's (her stuffed buffalo) relatives. I think she got over it pretty quickly, though, because there was so much else to see and do!

Iris demonstrating her "chinese" jump!

And in other news...Halloween was a success! Our neighborhood is so awesome - I wish I had remembered to take some pictures of some of the houses. A few of our neighbors go all out with decorating, and it really makes trick or treating so much more interesting and fun. I'll have to remember that for next year.

Todd took this picture before Iris' elementary school's costume parade. I love how they're all doing their own thing. Thanks Em for the boot covers! So much better than the spray painted boots I was going to do...

The elusive smile! We usually have to resort to tricky and devious means to get it, but it's worth it!

Isn't she a sweet flower princess? And I wish you could have seen her and her little friend Miriam bopping from door to door in their costumes. The cutest thing EVER!

Summer Vacation

Back in June we took a two week vacation extravaganza, our first ever BIG vacation as a family, and I thought that, seeing how it's now August, I should probably get around to posting about it. I will warn you, though, it's picture overload. We crammed a lot into those two weeks! I apologize if some of the pictures aren't that great. We had to use Todd's iPhone because in the mad packing rush we forgot to actually pack the camera!

Here goes...

Vail:

We kicked off the trip with a four day Acts 29 pastors/wives retreat in Vail. Lovely place - although I got altitude sickness which wasn't so lovely. I've never had that experience before, and it was a little disconcerting. But, we got to stay in a super amazing resort/hotel and listen to great speakers and meet/hang out with other church planters, so it was worth it. AND we got to spend some extra time on the front and back end with my sister Em, since she so graciously offered to watch the girlies. I don't think they even missed us!

Guernsey State Park, Wyoming:

After Colorado, we headed up into Wyoming to Guernsey State Park for the first of our camping segments. Guernsey is basically a huge reservoir carved out of the Platte River. Our little camping spot was nice and only a few steps from the lake which the girls loved! That's basically where we spent most of our time. We were a smidgen worried when we first arrived and saw how close the campsites were together, but our fellow campers were thoughtful and did their partying elsewhere.

We also did some sightseeing while we were there. Register Rock (below) is a huge bluff the westward trekking pioneers would carve their names upon as a means of marking their existence along the trail. The girlies enjoyed climbing around.

We also got to see some Oregon Trail ruts. How amazing that they are still visible after all these years!

After Guernsey, we stopped at Scottsbluff....

....and then drove north into the Ogallala grasslands. My dad had heard mentioned that this was one of the most scenic routes in America, so we thought we'd give it a try on our way into the Black Hills. Oh. My. Goodness. SO hauntingly beautiful. In fact, we were so flabbergasted by it's sheer beauty that we didn't even take any pictures - we were too busy looking out the window for fear we'd miss something. I had to filch this one off the internet. Fellow Nebraskans, totally a drive worth taking! I'm so glad we did!

Black Hills, South Dakota:

This was definitely the most touristy part of our trip. There is SO much to see and do here, we couldn't possibly have done everything, so we had to kind of pick and choose some highlights.

Mount Rushmore, of course....

....and Jewel Cave. This was Iris' favorite part of the whole trip, I think. We may have a budding spelunker on our hands!

The Cosmos. I think we're still trying to figure out if this is a scam or not....

.....and Bear Country. The girls LOVED this. It's like a drive through zoo where all the animals are sort of just roaming wherever they please....

....and Needles Scenic Highway. The fun part about this is that we could park and walk up onto the rocks. We spent some time climbing and exploring. Both girls are quite the climbers!

We also got to spend some good quality time just relaxing at the campsite. Iris and Todd did some short hikes together while Lydia and I snoozed, and we visited the best (according to the girls - they're still talking about it) ice cream parlor ever, The Purple Palace.

On the way to the Niobrara River, the last leg of our trip, we stopped off at Wall Drug - the biggest souvenir shop EVER! We ran out of time to do too much here, but it was fun to look around and browse through all the stores. Lydia found her new love, Buffy the Buffalo, and Iris got some cool rocks and a pink diamond the size of Texas. There is so much just silly stuff here - we could have stayed all day!

Still on the way to the Niobrara, after Wall Drug, we took a slight detour onto the Badlands Scenic Highway. Also some of the most incredible scenery I have ever seen! We were able to get out and climb around a bit here too.

The Niobrara:

We ended our trip here with a family reunion of sorts. My whole family met up for a few days of hanging out and tubing down the river - so fun! Iris and Lydia loved, Loved, LOVED tubing and just the river in general so much we may have to make this an annual trip. It was so nice to hang out with my family, to hear my dad and mom sing and play the banjo, and to watch the cousins play. And to cap off all the fun, a few of us stayed an extra night so that we could see the local Demolition Derby. The girls have never seen one - it was exciting! Todd's pick actually won...

The trip was AMAZING - I'm so glad we decided to do it! I was a bit worried about all the camping involved, but the girls were great little troopers, and for me, it helped a ton that the trip ended up breaking down into nice three or four day chunks with a nice sister's house/hotel night break in between each chunk.

So that's it! Now summer's almost over, and it's on to school...