Cousin #5 - Lila Belle

Clara has some friends at church and school, but other than Chloe the little people she really loves the most are her cousins.  I was never close to my cousins growing up, but it's so fun for me to watch how my girls have girl cousins so close to their age on both sides and the bonds that they are forming.  My brother, Trey and his wife, Jennifer were expecting their third child in April and since they don't find out the gender until the baby is born, I was so excited to get the call and find out that it was their third girl.  Girls, girls, girls everywhere.  Introducing Lila Belle Davis, Davis grandgirl #5 and Clara and Eloise's fifth girl cousin (all under five years old).  Sweet blessings.

Here's our first time meeting her.  Clara loves loves loves her some babies and since Eloise was getting big and wiggly by this point, she was pretty excited to get her hands on a newborn.

The Dedication of Lila Belle

So, the problem with this whole working backwards from June thing is that it's like some strange reverse narrative.  This is the dedication of Lila Belle Davis, but I'm realizing you might not know who that is.  Davis niece #3 was born in April and is a delightfully squishy bundle of baby love.  And at the end of May we all went to Raleigh to be there for her dedication service at First Baptist, where my brother serves as a minister.  It was a great joy to celebrate with their congregation as we pledged to stand with Trey and Jennifer as they raise Lila to  know the love of Jesus.  Here are some photos of the special day.  

 

 And all God's people said,

"Thanks be to God!"

Milestone Update: 8 Weeks/2 Months/10 Weeks

So far, I've done a good job of not dropping the ball with the second child and am remembering all her milestone photos.  I've just not had the time or energy to get them all posted.  Since the 12 week photos will be coming up in just a few days, I thought I better hurry and get these posted.

Eloise is happy.  In case you can't tell, this two month old baby smiles big and often.  She's laid back and easy going, just like a second child is supposed to be.  She loves her family, maybe especially her mama and her sister, although she will flash that gummy grin at anyone.  At two months, she's still sleeping a LOT... like around 18 hours a lot of days.  She rides great for long trips which is a blessing because we have been on the go a lot.  I thought I had done so well getting her to take a bottle early and easily, so I didn't bother with it for awhile after that and unfortunately, now we can't get her to take one.  But she loves to nurse (and I am loving nursing her) and she sleeps an 8-10 hour stretch most nights.  She loves to watch her mobile, she's not a big fan of tummy time (or really being put down on the floor at all - tummy or back!), and she loves being outside.  Her favorite thing is to be held and snuggled, which we try to squeeze in as much as we can, but she also spends a good bit of time in the baby carrier strapped to me.   I thought Clara was a good baby (what does that even mean though, aren't all babies "good"?), but she was terribly high maintenance compared to Eloise.  Eloise will sleep anywhere, eat anywhere and roll with anything.  I know these early days are coming to an end soon and before long she'll actually need to nap in her crib, but for now, we've loved the flexibility of an easy going, happy go lucky baby.

Eloise recently had her 78th day of life and I thought all day about how Clara didn't come home until she was 78 days old.  I tried desperately to savor every moment of these first few newborn weeks and make it count as double.  I don't know that I'll remember everything like I want to, but I know that I enjoyed it.  My heart is so full and I'm so taken with this newest life in our midst.  She's a beautiful soul.

Thanks be to God.