Svea is 7 Months

Happy 7th month birthday, Baby Svea! We love you and thank God for you. Thanks for your willingness to go to your big sister's swim lessons. Thanks for deciding to eat rice cereal. Thanks for happily getting in your car seat multiple times a day to pick up and drop off Sonna at preschool and pick up Mara after school and run errands with me. Thanks for sleeping well. Thanks for not minding that I only bathe you once a week. Thanks for smiling at your sisters so they know how much you love them too. Your relationship with your sisters is off to a great start!

Lilly comes over after school on Tuesdays and today we had a tea party using my Easter Egg shaped plates and tea cups. I had planned to have a baby shower for a neighbor this week but since the girls were exposed to RSV we couldn't have any babies here so it was postponed (no RSV so far!). So naturally, we had to enjoy the delicious chocolate cake! The girls chose Sleepy Time Tea to go with their cake. I remember drinking that at bedtime with my mom when I was little. A nice memory.

The girls made the little egg nests at Sunday School last week.

Big Sister

Mara delights in her sister Svea. It is so fun to see Mara as she helps care for and play with Svea. Becca and I are 5 1/2 years apart too, so it is neat to imagine me as the 5 1/2 year old playing with baby Becca. Mara was thrilled when Svea started eating this weekend. You can see it in her face! The joy of having a sister. They are so lucky to have two sisters!

Honey

Sonna calls Svea "Honey" and it is the sweetest sound. "Oh, Honey, you are so cute!" or "You'll be okay, Honey".

She Likes It!

Svea will be 7 months old next week. Hard to believe how fast she is growing! She hasn't had any interest in eating or taking a bottle. No rice cereal, no sweet potatoes, no apple sauce, nada. I'm convinced it's because we have to force her medicine into her mouth each night and that's no fun for any of us. But this morning she actually seemed okay with a few spoonfuls of rice cereal. Hip hip hooray!

Svea is pure sweetheart and smiles. She enjoys her sisters (she's by far the easiest of the three!), and being part of this family and we are so thankful for her.

Our Little Swede - 6 1/2 months old

You know Grandma came to town when there is a picture of Mommy and Daddy and Baby. And clearly Mara and Sonna were consumed with another activity somewhere else in the house because they aren't pushing their way into the picture! :)

xoxo

Grandma's Visit

The girls had made a list of all they wanted to do with Grandma while she was here. At the top of Sonna's list was "Go to Buns by the Lake and eat on the dock". It was a chilly, rainy week but since the weather never improved, we bundled up and did it anyways! A good memory for sure and something that will surely end up on Sonna's list again.

My mom made the pretty stained glass Easter eggs hanging in the window. Svea loves watching her sisters!

Grandma brought a fun craft project for the girls. They stuffed pieces of yarn (left over from the Prayer Shawl ministry at their church) into mesh bags and hung them outside for the birds to use for nest building.

The girls get their love of playing games from their grandmas!

Tummy time on Grandma Margaret!

Enjoying some new books that Grandma brought in her suitcase. Sonna always LOVES unpacking grandma's suitcase!

So happy to spend time with Grandma! I only wish I had a picture of my mom and me. She took very good care of ME this week. Thank you, Mom!

Foolin' Around

Becca was my inspiration for making this day extra special. Truthfully, it couldn't have come on a better day. I think we were all in Recovery Mode after Grandma Margaret left yesterday. We had such a sweet time together and it was sad to see her go. So the fun we had with April Fool's Day was much needed. Becca sent several links with great ideas for April Food's Day pranks to play on kids. Becca suggested I print out the above Word Search for Mara. I did but the funniest part is that the joke was on ME! Mara spent a good 15 minutes on it and was getting frustrated. She had found 3 words and kept asking me for help. Normally, she is a whiz at word searches. I found a word for her "Pranked" after searching for awhile. When she kept complaining that she couldn't find anymore words I said, "Mara, if it's too frustrating, walk away!". Turns out, the only words that were in the word search said "YOU HAVE BEEN PRANKED" but I never noticed that! Joke was on me! I laughed so hard when Becca helped me put two and two together over the phone. Mara sort of got the joke. I think.

Becca sent a few links with suggestions for food pranks. I had decided I would do an easy one. I made cherry jello and put it in our juice glasses and let it set in the fridge. It looked just like Cranberry juice. The only problem was that Mara smelled the jello when she came out of her room during quiet time. Bummer! Then Sonna came running out when she heard the word "Jello" and told Mara she saw the box of Jello. They still played along. The best part though was that they were in on the joke when their Daddy got home and they offered him a glass of cranberry juice. So fun. They also talked to Aunt Becca on the phone this afternoon and she told them to put kleenex wads in our shoes. So when we put our shoes on to go out to eat tonight, we both had trouble getting our feet in! They were delighted.

But my favorite prank of all was the Sponge Cake. Becca's sis-in-law, Lisa, replied to us all on Becca's initial email and said she was going to buy kitchen sponges and frost them. I was so pleased to find an un-opened sponge in my closet (Thanks, Deb!). I was also excited to find frosting and sprinkles in my cupboard! I cut the sponge in half and frosted it. The girls seriously tried hard to cut into their 'cake' and even picked it up to bite into it. I am lucky I got any pictures in focus because I was laughing so hard. Jedd too. And we all needed that laughter. It was a great way to end the day. (The girls were happy to have one of Grandma's brownies as a delicious substitute).

So, Happy April Fool's Day Everyone! Thanks, Sister, for loving us and encouraging us from afar!