Weighing Ike on the Nail Scale

In Russia when I wanted to see if Ella was growing adequately, I would take her to the fruit stand to weigh her. (In America I usually would go to the Sacred Heart Women's center where they do free weight checks, but it's a little harder now to just jet into Spokane with three kids.) The clinic in town here wouldn't let me weigh Ike, but my Dad had the idea to take him to the hardware store. The owners there are really nice. We weighed him on this nail scale for fun and then used a different nail scale where we could tare the weight to zero after deducting his blanket, diaper, and onesie.




All to say, he's growing quite well and is over 11 pounds now. It was fun to make the trip to the store with my Dad. I love how he makes friends with people wherever he goes! =)

A Visit From Gramma Irene

Leif's mom came to visit us last week. It was fun to see how much the girls enjoyed her (of course, Ike loved her cuddles, too!) I'm so thankful to have such a gracious and loving mother-in-law. We look forward to more fun times with her this spring!

Mmmmmmmeals!

Our friend, Tara, contacted a bunch of our friends to have them bring us meals after Ike was born. We've been soooo enjoying wonderful food and the encouragement that these dear people bring!



I also love seeing what people bring- it gives me ideas for things that I can make in the future. Of course, some of the ingredients we probably won't be able to find in Russia. But we can improvise! These top two pictures are our friends, Ben and Kayla.


And these are the Arguinchona's. I wish I would've thought to take pictures of everyone!!

We have felt very taken care of. Thank you to all who brought us yummy food!!

More Birthdays... Including Leif!

On Saturday we celebrated four generations of birthdays with the family with five people (their special days are all within about 2 weeks of each other). We had a crazy hat party and had lots of fun!



My grandma Dorothy, mom, Leif, sweet cousin who just turned eleven, and Ike each got their own birthday cakes! Of course, we all enjoyed them (including a super-yummy red velvet cake that my aunt made. It's my new favorite kind of cake!)



On Leif's actual birthday, my parents took the girls overnight the day before so that he could sleep in! Then we went out for lunch and played mini-golf. Ike came along, but only added to the fun of the day, as he's super sweet and cuddly.



Leif won the game, even with Ike strapped on!



But I let him, as it was his birthday. hahaha.



Then we went to my parents' for a yummy steak dinner and cheesecake.

I'm definitely still in recovery mode and have been kind of crabby this past week. I'm so thankful for such a great husband and the fun that we have together. He's so gracious and loving and hardworking and fun. I love him so much!!

Happy 60th, Mom!

My mom turned 60 this past week. It was so fun to be able to be here to help her celebrate this milestone birthday! Many of my mom's friends (and family) wrote meaningful messages for her and gave pictures for me to put into a scrapbook in her honor. It was so neat to read what people wrote and to see how many lives my mom has touched and what a ray of sunshine she is to so many!

My mom's friend, Diane, threw her a surprise party this week, too. Ike and I popped in to help celebrate, and my mom was very happily surprised. I love to see how loved my mom is by so many!

The First Days With Little Ike

Ike is such a delight! He is snuggly and happy and cries less than 5 minutes each day if you add it all up. The girls are, of course, adjusting, and have had some very emotional moments. But even so, they both show such tenderness to their little brother and love him so much! Ella is very concerned that he is warm enough and frequently brings socks, hats, or blankets for the little guy. Anneka loves to hold Ike and kiss him, telling him that she loves him so much. She also helps me a lot by bringing me my water and my donut-pillow to sit on. Leif has been so good at taking care of me, Anneka and Ella and the apartment this first week so that I can attend to Ike and rest. I do things like play games and read books to the girls (mostly Anneka because she sits still for it) while I nurse Isaac. Leif has had a few late night skype calls, but it's after us girls are in bed, and he hasn't seemed too sleep-deprived. =)



These pictures of the girls were from their first viewing of Ike at the hospital. I had to post them because I like them so much. I love Ella's look of intrigue.


... and Anneka's look of pure delight!



And here's a body shot of Ike for those who asked. He's a solid boy! =) He likes to sleep a lot. It's baffling how newborns can sleep through chaos and noise! He was on the borderline of needing to go in for treatment of jaundice. We got him in natural sunlight as much as possible and I nursed and nursed him, and we think he's over the hump now- another answer to prayer! It's so much nicer to be at home than in a hospital!


We love our kids so much! Both Leif and I have expressed at different times this week the overflowing love and joy we have for these little ones. It's so amazing that God has entrusted them to us. He is so gracious and loving!