Comparing Children

No, of course not like THAT...

(although Eliza is a calm, easy-to-please baby who appreciates sleep...Nathan was none of those!)

Anyway, this is just a quick post to get some opinions. I have always loved looking at babies and trying to figure out who they look like in their family. I have a friend in our new complex who's white and her husband is black. They have 3 beautiful, caramel-colored, curly haired boys. I told her her youngest had her eyes and nose and that you can see a lot of his mama in his facial expressions and she almost cried...she said she'd NEVER heard that before; that people just look at their darker skin and her light skin and that's it.

We thought Eliza was a mini-Nathan, but then we looked at MY baby pictures and saw something different. Let us know what you think! Who looks like who? :o)

Mitch vs. Nathan, at about the same age:

Me vs. Eliza, at about the same age:

Nathan at about Eliza's age:

Eliza (making about the same facial expressions Nathan was in the pictures above...)

It was hard to find great examples to compare against Eliza because she's just so much SMALLER than most 2 month olds! We went to the doctor today, in fact, and she's 7 pounds 15 oz...ALMOST 8 lbs! She's also only 21 inches long with a 14" head circumference. She's 1st percentile in everything, whereas Nathan was 40-50th percentiles, always has been. Nathan was also starting to chunk up by 2 months, and Eliza is still far from it, although her cheeks are filling out and her thighs are thinking about it. She's a bit behind on skills like smiling, which we knew was probably going to happen with her being early (and simple tasks really wear her out), but her doctor said today that she has one of the strongest necks and backs he's EVER seen in a 2 month old, preemie or not! He's one of the most popular doctors in Rexburg, the land where everyone has babies all the time, so I feel like that's saying a lot!

In any case, we love our cuties! 

End-of-semester family update to come soon!

Happy Fourth of July!

The Fourth of July has been my favorite holiday to take pictures around since I had Nathan (and learned how to use a nice camera, which kind of happened simultaneously). It's pretty and warm outside (unlike Christmas...little kids + "pretty" snowy weather = red noses and snot, not smiles and happy faces!), the colors of the holiday are awfully colorful and bright, and honestly, it's just an important holiday. If nothing else, I want our kids to know that we cared enough to stop and make a big deal out of a holiday that really is a bigger deal to us than others. Even if mama's way of stopping to a big deal out of things is just by taking pictures!

We decided to carry on my family's tradition of buying 4th of July shirts every year, which my family started doing in 1999. However, you know Mitch...I couldn't get him to actually take pictures in them until we had a baby. And even then it's just pictures of the little guy (and now little girl too!). So you'll have to take my word for it that we have shirts from 2009-2012. We actually didn't buy them this year; money was a bit tight after moving and having E a month early! (And, well, Old Navy's 2XL is most stores' size large, so Mitch is boycotting them for now, haha.)

Here is 2011:

Here is 2012:

 And, brace yourselves, here is the photo dump from 2013: 2 kids is a lot harder than one! Especially when one of them is being bribed with fruit snacks to keep smiling, and even that barely works. 

Most of these are SOOC (straight out of camera); I was really impressed with the weather this evening! Add the 90+ degree heat (so E could stand being outside with her skinny self exposed) and the happy mood they were both in, and pictures are DONE!

Little smileys :o) (Not in the same direction, but close enough!)

ooh! Baby sneeze!

Always working that tongue :o)

Little grumpy face!

 

One of my favorites of her from today, although photographically it's terrible. You're not supposed to block pupils with catchlight, but that's why taking pictures of someone else's kids is easier; less on your mind so you can actually think about these things and get them right!

TOTAL favorite of her from today!! These little smile probably only happen 3-4 times a day, but I actually caught one!

  

 These two, above and below, are total Nathan faces :o)

Favorite of him from today :o) I love my sweet little buddy!

Trying to help sister be happy :o)

I told him to be silly and this is what I got...

...and we're DONE.

Maybe more? Maybe?

Oh, nope. We're done.

The reoccurring prop in all of these pictures? The white and red blanket that Mitch's grandma made for Nathan when he was born! It is the perfect July 4th photo blanket! Thanks, Grandma! (It also makes a great floor blanket and we use it a lot more than once a year!) 

We are planning to go to the Fourth of July parade in town the morning of the 4th, but the rest of the day we're just going to chill and try to enjoy daddy being home with us for once! He'll probably honestly use it to catch up on homework. We would go to Idaho Falls for their fireworks display (it's either the third or fourth largest display in the country and the biggest West of the Mississippi...and it's in the town right next to us!), but we would easily be in traffic trying to get out of there until 1-2 am or so...I don't think that's on our agenda with two little bitties!

In all seriousness, we are very lucky to live in a country where we have so many freedoms. It says a lot that the main thing we fight over as citizens of the United States is what freedoms we should have and who should have them. WE'RE allowed to decide those things! WE'RE allowed to decide WHO ends up in power. No matter what set of beliefs/political affiliation we have, we need to remember how lucky we are to live here. Here is one of my favorite quotes about our great nation:

"Men may fail in this country, earthquakes may come, seas may heave beyond their bounds, there may be great drought, disaster, and hardship, but this nation, founded on principles laid down by men whom God raised up, will never fail... you and I must have faith in America...I plead with you not to preach pessimism. Preach that this is the greatest country in all the world. This is the favored land. This is the land of our forefathers. It is the nation that will stand despite whatever trials or crises it may yet have to pass through."
--Harold B. Lee