emmeline's seven months

 
Life just keeps on getting sweeter with this little gal! She's so precious and has brought us true joy daily for seven whole months!

Emmeline is: 

... clapping and learning and is so engaging lately! She claps for everything, and it's one of our favorite things. Everything is a wonder at this stage, and it's so fun! Her eyes get big with astonishment and each next things she encounters, and she'll applaud and squeal in delight. She is so fun to watch!

... almost crawling, but not quite yet. She is successfully rolling and spinning all around. She'll get up on her hands and knees for a minute, but gets stuck and then flops down on her belly and rolls where she wants to go. She will sit in the same spot on the floor for what seems like an hour, but then I'll look away for a minute and look back to find her all the way across the room.  

... not our best sleeper, currently, but is our most patient delightful baby in spite of the lack of sleep at night. She's trying to figure out how to sleep in her own room, but just doesn't love being alone, so we're navigating through her wanting to be held or nursed all night long (!) which is exhausting in many ways. But to make up for it, she is our most pleasant, tolerant baby! She has a cherry disposition and is a happy, content girl almost always (despite how tired we are!) and I'm super grateful for that. 

... talking non-stop! She says "mom" and "dad" and "hi" and "pie" and is working on a handful of other words! She'll try to copy what we say to her - and just the other day, Branson got her sounding like Donald Duck for like 10 minutes! It was hilarious! And she does a mean Chewbacca impression! Haha!She babbles and giggles and talks and talks and talks! We love it! 

These girls are so fun! 

(And crazy, and silly, and energetic and the friendliest girls in all the land!)

We love these girls! 

FLASHBACK:

Afton's Seven Months

Golden's Seven Months

Phoebe's Seven Months

Matilda's Seven Months

emmeline's six months

Half of a year has passed in two blinks of an eye, and here we are with the cutest six months old in all the land! 

Emmeline is: 

... singing and talking all the live long day! She is clearly and consistently saying, "mom" and "dad" and "hi"... And a whole lot of other babbles and sounds — it's my favorite. We were in Singing Time at church on Sunday, and she sang the loudest and longest of all the kids! It was so hilariously darling. A few of the teachers and I just kept laughing and smiling the whole time because she wouldn't stop! She wanted to sing with the big kids!

... rolling all over and starting to sit by herself. She loves holding on to her feet, and will flip right over and over again and end up at the other end of the room. It's fun to see her learn and develop new skills. 

... loving all sorts of food! She devours citrus — she'll suck on a lime, lemon, or orange for a long time, and never even puckers a single sour face! She loves potatoes and ice cream, obviously!, avocados, apples, pineapple, bananas and tomatoes, peanut butter... So many flavors! She wants to eat whenever any one around her is eating, and get so excited about every single bite!

... enthralled by her sisters. Phoebe makes her laugh every single time she holds her. Afton is so patient and can hold her when she's sad and just sings to her and loves on her. Goldie wants to show her off to everyone she meets, and Matilda blesses "cute little Emmeline" in each of her prayers. They love Emmie so much, and she loves them right back! She is still a momma's girl, and she does not like being away from me for ANY amount of time, but her snuggles and grins when I come back to her are like winning the lottery! 

... just so beautifully precious. She giggles and grins, sings and squawks, and lights up our whole world. She is finding her sense of humor and has started to repeat the things that we cheer and laugh at, like she's so proud of herself. It's the best! 

Cutest Sisters!

Flashback:

Afton's Six Months

Goldie's Six Months

Phoebe's Six Months

Matilda's Six Months

emmeline's five months

This year has been flying by and here we are, celebrating five months with this doll! 

Emmeline is:

... such a happy girl. She puts on a somber face for outsiders, but here at home, she's mostly smiles and giggles and squeals. It's delightful. She puts up with the busy chaos so well, and it's so kind of her. She is generally content, and it has made life with 5 kids doable. (Well, on most days, anyway... Ha ha)

... working on teeth. We've felt the tiniest edge of a tooth pop through but then recede again... So I'm not sure when it'll be official, but she's been SO drooly and chomping on anything and everything for a while now. 

... not a fan of a bottle. And she has started to turn her nose up at her binky — a lot like Phoebe at this age. She just is not interested in any substitutions for nursing. Luckily, she is a nursing champ and we've been so lucky to have that experience and time together. I know it's not easy for everyone and I don't take it for granted. 

... becoming a little copycat. She has started mimicing motions and sounds and it's so fun to see her mind work to figure out how to do life here on in this world. When she is feeling chatty, she will try to copy the sounds we make at her. She claps when we clap and say, "Yay Emmie!" and she tries to play with toys like she sees her sisters play. My favorite, though, is that she constantly grabs for my water bottle everytime I take a drink. She'll grab it and pull it to her mouth. She hasn't figured out how to sip out of it yet, but she's got the motions down. [Which boosts my confidence in my water intake — I must be drinking a lot of water if she's copying my moves! Ha!]

... still my little momma's girl. My babies have always been super snuggly and loving. But Emmeline has shown us a whole new level of attachment. [Between Emmie and our dog, Frankie, I hardly every have a moment alone. Two little babies who can't be without me! Haha] I adore her snuggles and despite this triple digit heat we're dying in, I'll choose to cuddle this girl any second of every day. She's the best! 

These girls are the cutest. They love Emmie so much and are such fun friends and helpers. We're so lucky!

Flashback:

Afton's Five Months

Goldie's Five Months

Phoebe's Five Months

Matilda's Five Months

emmeline's four months

Miss Emmie is four months old! While I can't believe it's been another month already, this little gal is the light of our world. We're so lucky she is ours!

Emmeline is:

...becoming quite the chatterbox! She babbles and babbles, and everyday figures out a new sound to make. It's the music I want for the soundtrack of my life. I can listen to her coos and gurgles all the live long day!

...finding her tongue, along with her voice. She sticks out her tongue often and makes the silliest baby faces, and makes us giggle all day long. She's started teething and is a drooly mess sometimes and constantly gnawing on her fingers, her binky, and trying to chew on her tongue. It's so fun to watch her figure out how to work her little mortal body.

...a trooper. A cute neighbor of mine told me the other day that she loves seeing me handle this baby - like you can tell she's a 5th child because she just goes along with whatever I'm doing... And it's true. She has conformed to our chaos quite well, and shares her peaceful patience with us very often. Running kids every where, walking around the grocery store, stroller/sling/thrown on my hip or shoulder — she's usually just happy to be along for the ride.

...rolling side to side and trying to figure out how to move around. She is my only child to not hate being on her stomach. She loves being able to push herself up with her arms and look all around. She's super strong and keeps surprising me with her grip and how stable she's getting.

...just the best girl around! She loves bedtime and sleeps so well at night. She is pleasant and cheery and so beautiful! People stop me and tell me so — her baby skin is unmatched! She's cute and snuggly, tolerant of all the sisters in her face, and she loves her momma!

We love this girl so much!

We're so lucky to have all these girls. We navigate so many emotions and feelings so frequently, but good grief, they're cute!

Afton's Four Months

Goldie's Four Months

Phoebe's Four Months

Matilda's Four Months

emmeline's three montths

 

Three months with our little Miss, and I'm begging for her to stay little as long as possible. Time is a thief and I feel like these days are passing too quickly. Our gaggle of girls keeps us busy, but I've been trying to soak in every day.

Emmeline is:

... my best sleeper. All of my girls have been decent sleepers, but Emmie has been the earliest most consistent, longest sleeper. It's so nice. Lately all of my older girls have been the ones keeping us up at night, while sweet Emmie just snoozes away.

... finding her voice! She's started singing and chattering, and does this funny beatbox like sound where she keeps her mouth closed, but tried to talk. It it hilarious! I can listen to her sweet little voice all day.

... trying to roll and sit up — all of those core muscle moves. She is super strong and has a death grip that it hard to break! She loves standing up and bouncing on her legs, and likes being on her side.

... our most intense momma's girl. It's Mom or nothing almost all of the time. She is tolerant of others for a tiny while, but she will always calm right down for me. I haven't minded it - I love snuggling her and holding her and when she nuzzles her little face into my neck or a chunk of my hair, I swear it melts away my troubles. This girl is healing for the soul. [And maybe she'll share in the future and broaden her healing circle to snuggle more than just me haha]

... just so sweet. She is a piece of heaven and brings such joy and peace to our not-so-little family. She is so loved!

God is so generous to give these beautiful souls to us. With each new addition, His plan gets clearer to me of how much He wants us to be happy, and gives us families to help us along the journey back to Him.

Our life is crazy and messy, but joyful and so wonderful.

Flashback:

Afton's Three Months

Golden's Three Months

Phoebe's Three Months

Matilda's Three Months

emmeline's two months

 

Another month in the books and my heart could burst! I can't believe it's been two months with our sweet Emmeline! People keep asking me how I'm surviving with FIVE kids, and truly, it seems like Emmie has always been a part of our crew, so I don't know how to really answer -- other than to say that we're all so in love with this little bundle, and life is busy and hard and natural and wonderful... All at the same time. 

Emmeline is:

... the perfect combination of all of her sisters, but still has her own unique look. She looks like a little Larson woman, but each day, she matches a different sister. It's so interesting to me! She's truly a beautiful girl, and I can't help but dress her up and down like a baby doll - she's our real life baby doll. [From the day we brought Emmie home, Matilda has called her "Sister Baby," which just seems to fit and delights my soul!]

... smiling so often! When she is awake, she is generally cheery. Her smile melts me into a puddle, and she grind biggest for her Mom and Dad early in the morning or late at night - she probably senses there's less distractions and chaos at those times and just shines away! 

... starting to coo and chatter with us, and let me just tell you how much I love those little sounds! I can listen all day long and never tire of the coos, and oohs and ohhs and every little squeak she makes! It's such joyful noise!

... sleeping so wonderfully. She's going 7-8 hours between feedings at night, which just feels like a direct blessing from on high, and we're so grateful. She makes up for it and seems to want to eat like every hour during the day, but it seems like a fair trade to get a good night's sleep.

... so snuggly. She'll nuzzle right into my neck or elbow and fall fast asleep. Snuggling babies is my favorite thing, and I can't help but feel like all is right in the world when their little baby hands grab a lock of my hair, and I feel their warm breath on my skin. It is heaven for me! [Also for Branson - within a minute of snuggling a sleeping baby, he is almost always totally asleep, too. He says his best naps happen while holding a sleeping baby.]

Our life is crazy and busy, chaotic and loud, and cluttered and messy. But is also simple and sweet, sacred and special, and beautifully wonderful. We're so blessed. God is good, and I am grateful for this plan He orchestrated for us to have joy. These girls are truly my joy!

Flashback:

Afton's Two Months

Goldie's Two Months

Phoebe's Two Months

Matilda's Two Months