Happy (belated) Valentine's Day

From our little Valentine's to yours!

Arrielle received her first rose from her Daddy yesterday! So sweet!

She's 6 months

I have a feeling that for every monthly update for Arrielle, I will start with-- I can't believe she's already (insert number here) months!! Truly, these past 6 months have flown by. I can't believe my baby is a half of a year old! She has been such a delight and as her personality develops I can see that we are going to have a very, very lively house!

This little one is quite the active baby. She's not quite crawling yet but she is determined to learn. Whenever I put her on the floor she immediately flips over to her tummy and begins what I call the bunny hop. She sort of kicks her legs out behind herself and scoots forward. And before I know it, she's across the room!

She has mastered the art of the "stare down" especially when she meets new faces. But after a few moments, the stone face turns to a warm, sweet, drooling smile. One thing that I love about her is that when she sleeps her eyelashes are so long that they graze the top of her cheeks. It's so precious. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for her as she grows!

Fun Facts:

-She's quite ticklish under her rib cage.

-She sucks her thumb and refuses to take a paci

-Although she is somewhat bald in the back of her head, she sometimes wears pigtails in the front.

-She loves to watch her brother run and jump around.

-She started eating solid food last week. (See pics below)

Arrie wasn't too excited about the high chair. She wasn't sure what to make of it...

But she LOVED her rice cereal. She helped me by grabbing the spoon and pulling it to her mouth. Next week she'll start sweet potatoes and bananas!

Sibling Love

Jadon is such an affectionate big brother! But, like a typical two-year old, you have to watch his every move. For example:

This love-fest started out with the best of intentions.


Awww, so sweet. Right?


Then it took a turn south... poor Arrielle.

And quickly spiraled out of control!!

**Please note that I didn't know he was doing this when I took the picture. I promptly released Arrie from Jadon's "death-grip" and restored order in the home. Arrie is such a tough cookie! =-)

Gotta love big brothers!

Sunday, Monday, Wednesday

Jadon knows these days very well. He knows Sunday because that is the day we take out our trash. This is important because it means that Monday is the next day. And Monday means that the garbage man comes. Jadon wakes up bright and early, gets dressed and waits for the garbage man.

He LOVES, LOVES, LOVES --did I mention he LOVES watching the garbage man (Michael).

We wave to him



And thank him for his hard work

In return, Michael takes away our garbage --especially our diapers. (Jadon points out this fact on a near daily basis everytime we change him or Arrielle. He says, "diapers for garbage man.") He then dumps all of the collected garbage into the big bin. This is Jadon's favorite part!

When it's all over we tell him to have a nice day and wave goodbye!

Wednesday means we go the library for storytime. When we pull into the parking lot, Jadon shouts, "librrrarry, librrrarry". He loves story time because he gets to dance, sing, and kind-of listen to the stories.

Here is Jadon dancing with his friend Micah looking on.

All the while, Arrielle just hangs out and watches her big bro.

I truly love our weekly routines!

'Tis the Season

Ever since Jadon’s arrival and especially now that we have Arrielle, I’ve fantasized about decorating for Christmas and having the kids help us. In my fantasy, we’d have hot cocoa, a nice wood-burning fire, and Christmas music to accompany our decorating activities. Well a few weeks ago, my dream came true minus the hot cocoa, and wood-burning fire. We (rather David) pulled out all of our Christmas decorations from the attic and we began decorating the house.

Here the boys strategize how to best accomplish the task at hand.

Let the decorating begin!

Arrielle, was such a sweetheart while watching all of the commotion. I can’t believe that next year she will be almost 18 months and will be able to physically help with the decorating. This revelation has just made my heart skip a beat…my goodness that is a crazy thought…

This year, Jadon was completely fascinated by all the sparkly ornaments and garland.

He helped David put the star on the top of the tree. And he helped me put up the stocking --or "socks" as he calls them.

Christmas is my most favorite time of the year. I love the hustle and bustle ofholiday shopping; I love the music; and I love the special memories we make with our loved ones. I clearly remember decorating the Christmas tree with my mom and dad. I also remember and loved watching all of the Christmas movies that come on TV during this season. I hope to develop some wonderful long-standing traditions with Jadon and Arrielle in the years to come. My hope is that when they’re older they will reminisce and think of this season fondly too.

The finished product!

The night ended with reindeer antlers and us singing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” over, and over, and over again!

Thanksgiving!!

We have so much to be thankful for this year. Although we’ve had a few setbacks, God’s grace is upon us and I know He always has our best interest at heart –know matter how hard the lesson may be.

I am thankful for my wonderful husband, my two healthy children, and my family and friends. My heart couldn’t be more full of thanks. I love this time of year because in the midst of the life moving full speed ahead, it reminds me to take some time to reflect. I always promise myself to be thankful and reflect throughout the entire year but somehow the daily grind gets to me. So now, I take a special moment to say, “thank you Lord for your many, many blessings.” Here are some pictures of our time with our family in Fresno. We missed seeing TT this year!!

Jadon and Arrielle with Pog and G-mom


Arrielle with Aunt Charity

Christopher and Jadon having fun on the motorcycle!

The Shabaglian/Thonesen clan--taking over Me-N-Eds

The boys were pretending they were on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Jadon had so much fun playing with his cousin.

Jadon, Arrielle, and Grandma

Shabaglian/Penner cousins together. The newest addition is baby Jed --he was only 10 days old!! (I love Jadon and Christopher's facial expressions). We were sad little Aubrey Rose wasn't in the picture.

Thanksgiving Day

Jadon and Daddy watching football

Four Months

I can’t believe that so much time has passed since Arrielle’s arrival. She’s already four months and it seems like yesterday, I was going to the hospital in horrific labor pains. It’s been amazing to see this little girl grow and develop a personality. She is such a sweet little girl-- she's constantly smiling. She LOVES to eat and watch her brother play. And although she’s not as “cuddly” as Jadon was (she likes to sit straight up to see what’s going on), she loves to be held. She talks A LOT –I can’t wait until she actually forming words. We’re going to have to little chatter boxes in the house.

She is also very assertive –she knows what she likes and has no problem letting us know. This afternoon I put her down for a nap. There was a pacifier in her crib that she doesn’t like very much but I thought, “hey, it’s here let me put it in her mouth”. I left the room and returned three times to reinsert the paci becaue she kept spitting it out. Each time she spit it out she cried louder, and louder. By the fourth time I went downstairs and got her favorite paci (it was in her car seat and I was too lazy to go down and get it before her nap.) I put it in her mouth and –no kidding—she began sucking on it and immediately began drifting off to sleep. Her name means, “lioness of God” in Hebrew and we think she’s going to be a firecracker!

It’s amazing how God has expanded my heart to love her so much. As and only child, I wasn’t quite sure how to love more than one and I hadn’t seen it demonstrated in my home because there was only me. But it is crazy how soon your mind and heart adjusts. I don’t really remember what it was like to not have her around the house.