5 months old

Macy turned 5 months old this week. How can that be?!

At 5 months old, Macy is:

Nursing every three hours and eating rice or oatmeal cereal twice a day

Sleeping all night almost every night

sitting up pretty well on her own

spitting up like crazy. still. :)

napping twice a day, morning and afternoon

cooing and smiling at us and her sister with any and all attention

working hard at growing some hair, she still has very little

wearing 3-6 month clothes

very good at taking off her socks, she can take any pair of socks off in a matter of minutes

having some stranger anxiety

holding toys and putting everything in her mouth

not rolling over yet, but pushing herself up on her hands very well

loving her tubbies with Elise in the big tub together

Love you, Macy Girl. We're so excited to celebrate Christmas with you sweetie!

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas......

First we celebrated Thanksgiving in Fort Wayne and had a fantastic time, even though I never got a blog post uploaded :)

playing BINGO at our first Christmas party
She really had a good time, even though she looks really ticked off in this picture




Our Christmas tree

which we went to pick out on a very rainy & cold Saturday morning

Making almond tarts, a very special (and delicious!) Christmas tradition in our family.

We're wearing our Christmas jammies

1st real snow of the season, so it was time to get the sled out and play!!

Only 16 more days until christmas, and we're enjoying every one!

It

lessons in applesauce

I made applesauce a few weeks ago. It went pretty well. We eat a lot of applesauce through the year, and the way we make it, it's more like apple pie in a jar rather than anything healthy. It's delicious!!

I took pictures during my little process, and I envisioned a blog post with pretty pictures and rows of beautiful applesauce all done and cleaned up. I have all those pictures, and they're very nice. But, that's not the story that this post is intended to tell.

No, the real reason I'm blogging about my applesauce Saturday is to tell you about the lessons I learned. Yes, lessons from making applesauce.

It began all fine and well. I cut up all the apples, cored them, and meticulously rid them of all that tough core/seeds/stems. Then I put those apples through the new nifty mill my mom bought. It worked great, except that my bowl of applesauce was filled with peel. It mashed up the apples just fine, but it also let tiny little bits of peel through as well. Not good. Not good at all.

I went a little nuts. All the work, all the $$ in the apples-and this batch is no good. I lost it. And as I explained the situation to Bryan, I threw the pan of peely applesauce into the sink. I threw it hard. It made a point, and I felt pretty good letting off some steam.

Fast forward a couple hours. New screen on the mill, the rest of the apples cooked, milled and canned. 11 pretty jars of applesauce resting on the counter, labeled and delicious.

Cleaning up the rest of the kitchen, I noticed water under the sink. A puddle of water. I was totally perplexed and wondered aloud to Bryan why there would be water under there. It took about 2 seconds for Bryan to assess the situation and come to the conclusion that there was a crack in our sink. A 12 inch crack, leaking water into the cabinet below. A 12-inch crack that came from a thrown pan a few hours earlier.

I felt an inch tall, ridiculously stupid, and completely sorry. I broke our sink. I cracked it in my anger over a some peels in the applesauce.

My husband is a saint. We packed up the girls, went to Lowe's, made a friend in the sink department and we were out the door for just under $400. Bryan switched out the sink, re-routed the plumbing, installed a new faucet......until 2am Sunday morning. Again, he's a saint.

Not once at Lowe's spending lots of $$, in the kitchen fixing, installing, cleaning, did Bryan get mad at me. Not a critical comment, not a shaming observation, nothing. He was gracious, calm, and practical. He is a blessing to me, even when I don't deserve it.

And, God gave me a daily reminder to control my anger. Every time I use our new sink I'm reminded of my stupid mistake that led to it's necessity. Every time I clean it, I remember how fast I can lose my temper and what trouble that anger can bring. I'm working on it. And, I think that this experience was just God enlightening me to one of my many sinful habits. It's amazing how easily sin can feel normal, no big deal, or harmless. But, really, sin is anything but that. I'm praying God helps me to control my anger. I'm praying that He enlightens me to other "un-noticed" sins. I'm also hoping that the next "enlightenment" doesn't cost so much money!

Four Months

Macy was four months last week. At her Dr visit, Dr Greg started talking about starting her on rice cereal and baby food, and I couldn't believe she was already old enough for that!

At four months, Macy is:

eating mostly mommy's milk, although we'll start rice cereal soon

sleeping 11 hours at night, and taking two good naps a day

trying to sit forward, nearly rolling off from the couch where we sometimes prop her

holding onto toys and blankets

smiling and sometimes laughing

wearing size 2 diapers and 3-6 month clothes

loves to be outside, held, sung to, or bounced

crabby when not with mommy (she even gives her daddy a hard time!)

loves taking a bath

likes to be entertained by Elise "reading" books to her or showing her amazing baby toys

wants to be with us all the time-even sitting in her high chair while we eat

I'm enjoying Macy so much, and while the newborn stage is going by so quickly, it's a blessing to see her grow and discover her little world a little more each day. In this week of thanksgiving, I'm especially thankful for this sweet baby girl.

Happy 3, Elise!!

Elise turns 3 tomorrow, and today we celebrated with our families. We had a strawberry shortcake party with lots of great food, cupcakes, presents, balloons......it was a GREAT party!

It's crazy how much bigger 3 is than 2, and how much more Elise can do than a year ago. At THREE, Elise is:

a great eater, eating almost everything. Her favorite is egg noodles with pesto, any kind of fruit, and frosted mini wheats.

She can put on her own pj's and sometimes her own shoes.

Elise loves to brush her teeth and can do so without any help.

She knows some letters and numbers, particularly the numbers 7 & 4, both numbers she watches for on her clock to know when she can wake up in the morning and after her nap. :)

likes to do puzzles, color, paint, make jell-o, do play dough, and set up a tea party or serve us food out of her grocery cart. She often takes care of her "babies" Alex, Marylin, Grace, & Nora, favoring Alex most of the time. (Alex is named after Alex Trebek on Jeopardy, her favorite show!)

Elise's favorite places to go include the park to feed the ducks, McDonald's, and the rivertown crossing mall for the carousel. Oh, and the gas station for popcorn and diet coke. :)

She still wears diapers and has NO interest in the potty at all....yet.

Elise chooses to read Jonah and the Whale every night before bed. She even "read" the story to me tonight and said her own prayer, thanking God for a fun day.

It's crazy how very three Elise is. She wants to do EVERYTHING on her own, and each day I'm amazed at what she really can do by herself. She has such a tender heart, is sweet down to the core, and she makes us laugh so hard we can't breathe. She is the best part of any day, and I thank God for her almost all the time.

Happy 3, sweet girl!

Dentist Disaster

I finally made an appointment to take Elise to the dentist. Since Elise LOVES to brush her teeth, I thought this might be right up her alley. We talked about the dentist for weeks before the much-anticipated morning. We talked about the special chair, the dental assistant counting her teeth, opening her mouth really big to show off her beautiful teeth, picking out her very own toothbrush to take home.....you get the idea.

We arrived at the office and Elise was really excited about the train that runs around the top of the office. She asked a bunch of questions right away, totally calm and happy for the one-on-one attention from mom.

And then we went back to the examination room. There were probably 3 or 4 little kids all laying back in chairs while the dental staff worked on their teeth. Elise's eyes got BIG and she decided the dentist was not for her. She did not want to sit in the special chair. She did not want to taste the toothpaste or let the instruments tickle her teeth. She barely opened her little mouth. She was unimpressed that they didn't have a red toothbrush for her. She didn't want a pink one. And then, the dentist came over, put on a mask, and Elise LOST it. Crying, squirming, kicking- lost it. They managed to pry her mouth open for a quick look and some fluoride, and I left with a tearful, "I'm never coming back to the dentist again" determined little girl.

They said they'd see us in 6 months, but I'm pretty sure daddy will take her next time.

I did manage to convince Elise to sit in the chair for a picture, before the visit turned disaster:

3 Months

Macy is THREE months old today!

At three months old, Macy is:

Sleeping about 10-11 hours each night

Nursing every three hours during the day

Smiling whenever we talk, sing, smile, or play with her

Loving her tubbies

Wearing size 2 diapers and mostly 3 month clothes

Reaching at toys, playing happily under her activity mat, and sitting up in her bumpo seat

Charming her mommy, daddy, and big sister every chance she gets!! I'm loving my new little family of four, and I'm so grateful for God's blessing on Macy RuthAnne.

How Sweet It Is

Bryan and my parents harvested the honey from the bees last week. If you've never tried local honey, it's fantastic!! Here are a few pictures of the process:

This is a frame that the bees filled with honey. Our hive holds about 18 of these frames,

and the bees spend the entire spring and summer

building honeycomb and filling it with honey.

The bees cover the filled honeycomb with wax, preserving it. So, in order to access the honey, Bryan used a hot knife to cut the wax away, allowing the honey to drip out.

Elise tasted some honey right from the drippy honeycomb.

She thought it was delicious!!

This state of the art machine spins the frames so that the honey drips off the

frame and gathers in the bottom of the drum. Dad did a great job spinning!

Once the frames are all spun, the hone is then filtered through

this strainer and into a large pot.

Mmmmm, look at that golden honey!

Next, my mom poured the honey into jars. The 50 pounds of

honey that they harvested came out to be 36 pint-sized jars.

2 Months

Macy is 2 months old today!

At 2 months, Macy is:

-sleeping through the night almost every night

-smiling a lot

-holding her head up pretty well

-turning her head toward us & cooing when we talk to her

-wearing size 2 diapers and mostly 0-3 or 3 month clothes

-nursing every three or four hours

-tolerating all the many many hugs and kisses from her big sister

Macy went to the Dr. today. So far, she's been nothing but healthy. Macy weighs 12 1/2 pounds and is 23 1/2 inches long. (That's 80th percentile in weight and 93rd percentile in height!!) She also got her first round of shots today-poor baby! She did just fine, and after some infant's Tylenol and lots of love, she's napping soundly this afternoon.

Happy 2 months, Macy Girl!

It's not over yet!

Summer can't be over if we're still enjoying captain sundae in our jammies.....

Avery Leanne Lucas

I love being an aunt, and I'm excited that my newest niece is so close in age to my girls. While they were supposed to be 4 months apart, Macy and Avery are only 5 weeks apart. Abby was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia and had to deliver this precious baby girl at only 26 weeks gestation. She is doing fabulously well in the NICU at DeVos Childrens' Hospital, and I'm confident that some day Avery and Macy will be great friends. Today Avery weighs 1 pound 7 ounces and is just 10 inches long, while Macy is weighing in at over 10 pounds. In time, though, I doubt anybody will ever be able to tell that their starts to life were so different. Here is one of my favorite pictures of this sweet baby girl, Avery Leanne:

If you'd like to follow her progress, you can find her on care pages at www.carepages.com, and search averylucas.

One Month Old

It's been a month since Macy RuthAnne joined our family. Let me just say that 2nd children are the best! Never mind that both me and Bryan are 2nd children. :) It shouldn't surprise me that Macy fits into our family perfectly. I know that the Lord planned for her to be our child since before our family came to be, and we're just living out that plan as we adjust to everything she adds to our lives.

My prayer for her is that she grows up to be exactly the girl/young lady/woman that God has intended for her to be. And, I pray that God guides me to be exactly what Macy needs to find Him and all that He has planned for her life. At one month old, it's a little hard to imagine her as a woman who God will use for His kingdom. For now, I mostly think of her as His child, and mine, too, and how very blessed I am to be her Mom.

At one month old Macy is:

Eating well and mostly nursing although we have the formula handy

Sleeping 6 hours at night most nights

Working hard to hold her head up

Cooing and turning her head to look at us when we talk to her

Wearing mostly 0-3 month clothes and has grown out of almost all her newborn things

Tolerating all the love from her big sister and Indy dog

Happy 1 month, Macy Girl!

Watch out Tim Allen....

Our last week could totally be a part, maybe a very very small part, of one of those pure michigan ads.

Bryan and I say over and over again all summer long how lucky we are to LIVE in a place that other people come to VACATION. The beach is such a great escape on a weeknight, and a quick trip to swim in the lake or walk on the pier is so easy when it's so close to home. We're loving the hot (so hot!) summer, and hope that the next month is as full of Michigan summer fun as the past months have been.

Blueberry Picking at Gold Barn Blueberries


Beautiful Michigan blueberries. Yum!

Wading into the waves in Lake Michigan

Macy's first trip to the beach. Although completely unaware,

I think she loved it as much as the three of us did.

Around here lately

Here is a peak at what we've been up to over the past

week and a half as we're adjusting to our new family of four:

Bryan wasted no time putting both girls in the stroller to take a walk to the park. Elise was so excited to finally have her baby sister sitting next to her!

Here's the first of 12 pictures of Macy. My plan is to take a picture, just like this one over the next 12 months. While everyone is surprised at how big she was at birth, she still feels like such a little peanut to me!

Since it's been sooo hot over the past few weeks, we've spent lots and lots of time outside in the kiddie pool. Bryan even got in to cool off the other day, which Elise just loved.

This was rare moment to see Macy's dark dark blue eyes. So far, she's a very good baby. She nurses great and sleeps even better! No complaints from this mommy!

Since Macy takes a lot of my time, I have found myself suffering with some mommy guilt about all the times I have to ask Elise to wait or tell her that I can't do something with her because I'm busy with the baby. So, I tend to give in more than I normally do. For example, making Jello is Elise's most favorite thing to do in the kitchen, and, even though we didn't have anywhere to take it, we boiled up the water and made this orange finger jello. If you haven't tried orange finger jello in a while, I recommend giving it a try. It's delicious! :)

Meet Macy

She's here! Macy RuthAnne Linn was born into our family on Tuesday, July 12, at 5:26am. She weighed 9 pounds 5 ounces, and is a very healthy baby girl.

Bryan and I are so blessed to welcome this sweet baby into our family. We're all adjusting well, and big sister Elise just adores Macy. In time, I'm sure Macy will adore Elise, too. :)

While We Wait

Baby Linn was due on Tuesday, July 5Th. Three days ago. Now we're looking into another weekend, free of any plans, and trying to come up with fun things to do to pass the time while we wait for our baby girl to arrive. And, yes, I've heard all the tricks to starting labor, and NONE of them work. (for me anyway) And so we wait.

We've had a great time keeping busy this week. The fourth of July started with breakfast at the beach with my dad's side of the family, and then Bryan, Elise, & I stayed for the afternoon and took full advantage of the gorgeous weather. What a perfect 4Th! Tuesday was a concert at Lawrence Street Park in Zeeland, where Elise braved the big amphitheater steps and sat with the other kids (w/o mom & dad!!) on a blanket near the musician. In my very pregnant state, that made me a little emotional. When did she get so big?!? Last night brought dinner downtown and the street performers with a few friends. Elise even got to run in the splash pad right before heading home. Tonight may just be errands for a few last-minute things and dinner at home.

So, we're staying busy and yet very very anxious to meet this little girl. I know everything about my little family will change the moment this child enters our lives. And, I love thinking about our new family of four and how we'll be. I love knowing that Elise will have a sister, and what a blessing that will be to them both. But, I'm also soaking up all this special time, just the three of us, before all that change arrives. Somehow it's a little sad to think life will never be this way again. Elise will share us for the rest of her life. We won't love her any less, but it may feel like it sometimes, at least to her, at least in the beginning. The thought of all that adjustment for her makes me quite nervous about the next couple days and weeks.

So, while we wait for baby Linn, I am enjoying my time with Elise. I'm easier to persuade into one more story at bedtime or an unexpected stop at the car wash for popcorn. She gets extra hugs and kisses, and lots and lots of time talking about how much mommy loves her and always will. We talk about the baby and how she'll need lots and lots of love and attention from us. She's excited about the baby too. So, so, excited. And as much talking as we've done, I can't imagine a child more prepared for what's to come. And, yet, she has absolutely no clue! The plan will be lots of love, lots of patience, and lots of prayer for understanding as we all adjust to this big change.

Hopefully my next post has our exciting news and pictures of the newest member of our family! I'll keep you posted. Until then, the waiting continues..........

Test Day

Today's the day. Bryan's been studying for almost 12 weeks for the Series 7 exam. He left this morning, early, after a big breakfast to head to Grand Rapids to take the test. While he was calm and confident, I'm a little nervous. I know he'll pass the test. He's studied TONS in the last few months, giving nearly all his evenings to take practice tests and review the material. We hardly even celebrated his birthday yesterday, just because the test is today. But, it's just such a HUGE deal, knowing all that effort comes down to a few hours on a Friday morning. I can't wait to hear the good news and to know that he can relax and put that ginormous book away for good.





This series 7 test is just one of many licensing hurdles to go over in the first year of his new job. Even though studying and taking tests about rules and regulations is less than exciting, CapTrust has been such a great change for Bryan and our family. I love that Bryan enjoys going to work and that he works with such a wonderful team of people. He also loves learning, so even though I'd rather have all my teeth pulled than study for a test like the series 7, Bryan kind of enjoys this stuff, at least a little.





So, it's a big day over here. Lots of prayer and hopefully some celebrating tonight. I'm so very thankful for a husband who is dedicated to his job and has a great desire to succeed. God has blessed us in all that Bryan has accomplished and how he provides so well for our little family. I'm proud of him. He'll be embarrassed that I posted this. But, I'm counting on him being so relieved to have this crazy test behind him, that he won't really mind. :)

Happy 31

Birthdays seem to get a little lost when you reach 31 years old. It's not that you're truly less special than you were when you were little, but all of a sudden the world doesn't stop to celebrate you like it seemed to do 20 years ago.

That being said, I had a wonderful 31st birthday yesterday. Although it began super-early when I was woken up by Elise getting sick, the day got better and better. Elise made a speedy recovery and was pretty much back to normal by mid morning. (How do kids DO that, anyway?)

We spent the whole day together, Elise frequently reminding me that it was mommy's birthday and that she and daddy had made a cake. She also sang happy birthday to me several times all day long. So sweet! We played outside, read books, & had chocolate milk ( a very rare and special treat!) for lunch.

For dinner, the three of us headed downtown Holland for a little subsn 'n more outside. So delicious. Then back home for cake, singing, and my present.

How blessed I felt by the end of the day. No, nothing super-special took place. And, yes, I had my fair share of normal life: a vomiting toddler, laundry, yard work, dishes.....but, aren't all the normal day to day life happenings part of how we're so blessed in the first place?

I'm finding that even though birthdays as I get older get a little less special, the blessings that I enjoy everyday are really what I can take joy in as I look back at the years behind me and anticipate years to come. God has blessed me more than I could ever ask or imagine, and, in that, is everything I need to celebrate.

Thanks, Nanny!

I've been putting it off for a while. Elise's first haircut. Bryan's grandma, Elise's great-grandma, cuts hair, and so we thought we'd have her give Elise her very first cut. Elise talked about getting a "hairtuc" from nanny for weeks. We were all together over the holiday weekend, so it was as good a time as any. It's not that I dreamt of growing Elise's hair super-long, I just knew that once it was cut, she would look way older. And, she does!! She loved all the attention and did a great job sitting still.

For all the doubting ones....

A few friends and coworkers have been questioning my Dr's declaration of this baby being a girl. I, however, am very confidant that baby Linn is, in fact, another little girl. I'm so sure of it, that this is her closet. Full of pink! I can't believe Elise ever fit into these things, and I'm so excited to put this new one in all of it and smell her baby skin, hold on to her tiny fingers, and sing her all the sweet baby songs when we're up together as the rest of my family sleeps. Only 7 more weeks to go!

Short Flight

Almost 6 months ago Bryan built a remote-control airplane for our brother-in-law, Paul, for Christmas. We've been waiting all spring for a good night for the inaugural flight. Tonight was the night!

***side note: Bryan actually built TWO planes. The first won crashed on a test flight that I insisted he do, so he had to quickly build another to give to Paul for Christmas. The given plane had not been flown at all****

After a great mother's day dinner orchestrated entirely by the boys/dads, the whole family drove out to Park Township Airport. Bryan, Paul, & my dad analyzed the plane and the controls for quite some time before actual take off.

Finally, Paul took the controls and initiated take-off. The first run tripped up in the grass and stopped on the nose of the plane. The next take-off got only about 5 feet in the air and took a sharp right turn directly into the ground. Inaugural flight over.

While it was exciting to be there for the flight, and while we all had fun with all the preparations and anticipation, the short-lived entertainment and cracked up plane was pretty disappointing. The guys have already set another date for a re-do: labor day. So, they have a few months to patch up the airplane and hopefully figure out what when wrong.

All in all, it was a great gift, made with love, that will hopefully fly again soon!

Easter Eggs

Since Monday brought with it an inch of snow, I figured it was the perfect day to celebrate spring & decorate Easter Eggs. :) I had never in all my life (that I remember) decorated Easter Eggs, so it was a learning opportunity for both me and Elise. Lucky for us, it was pretty easy. I'm kind of impressed that the little kit that I bought for a whole dollar had everything we needed. Who knew?! We boiled eggs, dipped them as gently as we could considering our excitement, and even double-dipped a few to make some other colors. Then, we had to let them dry, which was perfect since it was also nap time. After her nap, we used some of the 10000 stickers that came in the kit. So fun!

Happy Easter!