Jesus is Alive!

We are blessed to be a part of a lifegroup that not only loves on our kids, but also helps teach them the Gospel.  This past Saturday, Miss Halie did a great job explaining the life of Jesus to the kids and leading them in a craft.  We continue to be thankful to share life with these friends!

Cracker

I must admit that with Halle's rocky start and her being the second child, I haven't stayed as on top of reading all the official baby books as I did with Camden.  Last week I decided to glance at what the books say should be doing and one was self-feed a cracker....I had no idea!  We tried it out at the next meal and she liked it!  Halle's oinked several crackers since then too!

Hodgepodge

Camden's buddy, Ryan is really into dinosaurs and has sparked Cam's interest too!  These two had a great time playing together after dinner one night.

When Daddy feeds the kiddos, this is how the end up...messy but happy!

My big boy LOVES to help with special jobs; he especially loved putting away grocery carts one Saturday morning. 

Not the best picture, but I had to capture the first ride in a shopping cart!  Haha:) 

Silly kiddos in the crib! 

Melts my heart...love this guy! 

Turning our bubbles pink!  On cold days, Mama pulls out all the creative play ideas. 

Reading together at the library~doesn't Halle looked thrilled?! 

As we were leaving the library, Camden said "I've got to go see my friend!"  He the proceeded to run to this statue and cuddle up.  He makes friends anywhere! 

This pretty much sums up feeding Halle a bottle...she'd much rather smile than eat it most feedings! 

Miss Morgan came to play! 

After lunch and playing with his friend Layla, they held hands all the way back to the car.  Not sure this Mama is ready for that... 

Pretty weather=lots of park fun 

Sweet Halle loves to swing and  

big bro even likes to push!

Mimi & Grampa Come to Visit

The smiles in this picture sum up all the fun we had with Mimi & Grampa this past weekend!  Mama didn't do a good job with pictures; probably because they always spoil her with so much free time!  Thanks for making the trip down; we love and already miss you both!

Great Grandma & Grandpa

Our kids are blessed to have Great Grandma and Grandpa Schulte in their lives.  They came to visit this past weekend and as always, Camden and Halle loved spending time with them.  A fun tradition they do is to give Camden two dollar bills.  They send them on special holidays like Valentines and Halloween and also gave him a couple this past weekend.  Most of the time we use them to buy a treat like ice cream, but recently Cam has enjoyed buying dinosaurs from the dollar spot!  We love you guys!

6 Months Old

Our sweet Halle Lauren turned 6 months old on January 27th! With the unexpected craziness of her first few months, I never got to do monthly posts, but want to still highlight the big ones.  Here is a look at life with Halle on her HALF birthday!

 • We are thankful to share that Halle got a great report from our doctor!  She was 28.25 inches long (98th percentile) and 17 pounds (65th percentile). We were especially proud of her weight percentile as that has been an area she has struggled with from her rocky start.  We will never take for granted our healthy baby girl!  Just like her big brother, Halle is a long and lean baby.
• Right now Halle wears 9 month and 6-12 months clothes. Mama loves playing dress up with her sweet baby girl! Mama’s still figuring out all the girl accessories; so much more to think about than boys!  She wears size 3 diapers.
• Halle takes four formula bottles a day. She is very inconsistent with the amount but on average each bottle is 5-7 ounces.  Her GI doctor has us concentrate her formula at a greater rate to get her extra calories.  For example, she gets the same calories in her 6 oz. bottle as a normal 8 oz. bottle.  She still takes Zantac and Nexium for her reflux, but we are starting the process of dropping these meds.  It is amazing how much improvement we’ve seen in the reflux department; SO thankful for this!  She has also gotten to be a much more efficient eater; bottles only take about 10 minutes! Halle also eats solids three times a day; oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, a fruit and veggie for lunch, and rice cereal and veggie for dinner. She really likes her solids and typically prefers them to her liquid feedings. She has tried sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, green beans, peas, broccoli, apples, pears, bananas, avocadoes, peaches, and mangos. Her absolute favorite is definitely avocadoes!  She’s also tried yogurt melts and puffs, which are both hits.
• Halle is doing great with sleeping, especially at night! With all of her reflux problems, it took a while for her to become a consistent sleeper, but she really is now!  She goes down about 8:15 and sleeps until 8-8:30 in the morning. Halle is a paci girl for sure and never sleeps without it! During the day she takes three naps: about 1 ½ to 2 hours in the morning and afternoon and around 45 minutes to 1 hour in the early evening. We think we may need to drop the last nap soon. Halle sleeps on her tummy or side and plays happily in her crib when she wakes.
• Halle is the happiest most content baby I’ve been around! She loves to smile and laugh and is so laid back!  This past month she mastered sitting on her own (with us putting her in that position).  We were very proud of that accomplishment as she had a slow start with gross motor skills.  Halle receives physical therapy once a week to help work on those skills.  Although she can roll over, she rarely does it.  Her laid back personality means that we don’t see crawling anywhere on the near horizon.  She loves to be held in the standing position!   
• Halle loves her toys, but sometimes I think she would be fine with only having her hands and feet! Isn’t it funny how much kids like non toy items, but we still buy toys? Her favorite toys right now are her Sophie the Giraffe, her dollhouse and her Exersaucer. 
•Our sweet girl can be really vocal!  She is either really quiet or really loud!  She can really get going and talk for long periods of time.  Giggles and full out laughs are also common sounds! We love hearing all the sounds she shares with us.
• Halle already ADORES her big brother and really all kids!  She lights up the minute Camden shows her attention.  I also LOVE watching her huge smile when she hears Toby’s voice on the phone.  Such a precious thing!

We are so blessed by our beautiful baby girl and grateful that the Lord has entrusted her to us.  What an honor it is to be her parents!  We love you Halle; happy half birthday!

ADORABLE

I'm kind of obsessed with this cutie...