Lanie Laughed!

So, it all happened this afternoon as we were enjoying this awesome weather outside as a family. Elizabeth was running around like crazy as Elaine looked on from her blanket. Elizabeth ran by, squatted down, and said, "BOO!" Elaine let out a precious laugh! It is so fun that Elizabeth was the first one to get a good laugh; I am sure there will be many more to come. Of course we didn't have the camera handy, so you just get a few of her recent photos.
Side note: Due to Elaine's prevalent spitting up, she is often without a shirt (just around the house) or otherwise hiding under a stack of bibs:) Someday she'll outgrow it! At least she is HAPPY!

Elizabeth Grace is 2 Years Old!!!!

Are you kidding me? My little girl is growing up! She turned 2 yesterday, and was so precious as we celebrated her special day. We are incredibly blessed to have such a supportive and generous family and group of friends. Elizabeth received a new fall wardrobe and a plethora of toys! I think she was a bit overwhelmed and would have probably been happy with just the first gift she opened:) However, she is having a blast with all of her new stuff, and we had a fashion show as she tried on all of her new clothes!
At 2 years old, Elizabeth is very verbal and can clearly communicate her thoughts and feelings and ask really inquisitive questions! She is helpful and genuinely wants to please- a characteristic I notice in many first born kiddos. Some of her favorite things to do include playing at the park, reading books, doing puzzles, watching and playing sports with Daddy, getting her hair fixed pretty, singing, counting, going to church, playing with Addie and Emma, and all around being HAPPY! She is such a joy, and we are blessed to call her our daughter.
Here are a few pics of our sweet girl!

3 Months

Well, this is the first of a series of new updates. Elaine gets precedence, because she is changing so much each day, that if I wait any longer, I am going to miss more fun things!
She turned 3 months on August 31 and is just too cute! She is very social and smiles most of the time. She has started to "talk" a lot and you can tell she is quite proud of herself! Another big accomplishment in Elaine's life has been rolling over! She rolled from front to back several weeks ago, but on Saturday, she woke up from her nap very frantic, and when I went in to get her, I found her on her tummy! She has done it a couple of times since, and today she finally showed off, so now I know it wasn't the roll over fairy- she has skills! Adding to the list, Elaine now eats like a big girl- rice cereal! She had been sleeping 10-11 hours at night, and all of a sudden she began waking after only 6 or 7 hours. She would just eat and go right back to sleep, so I decided she was hungry and needed a little more than mommy milk. The cereal has done the trick, and she is back to her 10 or 11 hours! Her tummy still bothers her if she doesn't get her medicine, and she is still quite the spitter (so I am quite the laundry woman and smell of sour milk most of the time). All in all though, Elaine Karis is a great baby and such a joy for our family!
I'll leave you with a few pics...

What is going on here?

Ummmm... How does this thing work?

Satisfaction!

Quick Update

This is going to be quick, but I promise I will get back into the swing of things soon!
Things you should know...
1. We are finally moved into our new home in Keller!!!
2. Elizabeth is sleeping in a big girl bed and doing awesome!
3. Elaine is sleeping great and is a very happy girl- especially now that she is taking baby Zantac!

A couple of pics to keep you happy until I can really put together a good post.

Texas Perk

So, I am trying to be positive about the extreme Texas summer temperatures, and this is what I have realized. Most stores you visit these days have their summer stuff on clearance, and being that fall temperatures don't really begin until at least October here, products purchased now are still very usable for the next couple of months! The most recent purchase Nana got for Elizabeth was a slip 'n slide and matching water sprinkler, originally $30 on clearance for $12. I have many fond memories of a similar apparatus as a child, so I was so excited! Elizabeth had a choice between the Nemo, Princess, or Cars version, and girly as she is, she loves to watch the movie Cars with Daddy, so the Cars version it was!
It was a family affair, and we had a blast!!!!

2 Month Stats

Sorry this is a little late.
At her 2 month check up,
Elaine weighed 10 lb 14 oz and was 23 inches long!
Her excessive spitting up doesn't seem to be affecting her growth!
She is sleeping at least 8 hours at night and generally an easy baby:)

For What it’s Worth…

So, lately I feel like God has been speaking clearly to our family, “It doesn’t have to be this way!” I by nature am a “go get ‘em” type of person; when I do something, I want it done well and will do whatever it take to attain the best possible result. This in and of itself is not a bad thing. However, there are also sinful tendencies that accompany this personality, such as taking on way to many responsibilities, acting as though no one else can do a job as well as you, and ultimately laboring in your own strength and failing to depend upon the King, which all lead to a very tired and weary woman. YIKES! So, I know this about myself, but unfortunately, it most recently reared its ugly head in the midst of the craziest season of life yet. Satan knows what He is doing, and he struck when I was least prepared. Somehow, upon having a new baby, Justin beginning a new job, getting ready to move into a new house, and CityView going through a growth spurt, I have been lacking in my time with my Lord. I listened to the lie that, “When your girls get a little older, once Justin settles into his job, after you get moved, and when CityView stuff calms down, it will be easier.” No! I need my Jesus NOW! More than ever, I need His Truth to guide me, His voice to comfort me, and His strength to sustain me! This doesn’t mean my time in the Word and in prayer are going to look like they did in college when I had unlimited time and limited responsibilities, but it does mean that I have to seek opportunities to be filled by scripture and to interact with God in prayer. One of the biggest things this has meant for me is to turn off the TV, or even better, to not even turn it on! There is some kind of comfort for me in hearing adults talk about adult things when I have been speaking and translating toddler all day! I realized though, that when I thought I didn’t have any spare time, I actually did if I could live without watching the Today show discus the same topics they did yesterday or Jay Leno crack the same joke he did the night before. I also remembered that 3, 4, or 5 am are all excellent times to pray when I am up for a feeding. Elizabeth is a captive audience while sitting in her high chair for breakfast, so why not speak scripture over her and into my own heart as I sit with her? Why not hang scripture to meditate upon and specific ways to pray for Justin in the shower? Creativity is the name of the game here! It is just a matter of reworking my priorities and getting things back into perspective. When I recognize my need for God and depend on Him to carry me through each day, I am able to be a much better wife, mommy, and friend! It is not about me doing more “stuff,” but instead returning to the source for my sustenance and allowing Him to fill me up!
Psalm 127
Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he give to his beloved sleep.
Behold children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.
Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
God is sovereign over our home, our security, our provisions and our family. When I am trusting this truth, regardless of circumstances, there is great peace in my soul. Thank you Lord for your Word and the ways you use it to bring us back to you!

8 weeks and 22 months

My sweetie pies in their bloomers Sisto bought them!

We are blessed with two very good sleepers!
Elaine has gone as long as 8 hours between feedings at night, and she takes pretty good naps during the day too!
Elizabeth sleeps a good 12 hours at night and functions best if she gets a good at least 2 hour afternoon nap. This pic makes me feel like she is still my baby! It is going to be tough to see her in her big girl bed once we move! Lamb, Dora, Blankie, and Paci are all important to her sleep; not sure when we will ditch the paci.
We are also blessed two with Happy girls!
Elizabeth rarely does not have a smile on her face, especially lately as she is continually accomplishing new feats! "All by self!" and "Elizabeth can do it!" are phrases we hear frequently, and it is so fun to watch her exert her independence.Elizabeth's imagination and creativity keep me smiling and laughing!
Elaine is all smiles these days! She loves to sit in our laps and "talk" to us. She also enjoys talking to the animals on her activity mat as well as the birds and butterflies that rotate above her swing.
Today's Sip and See was a success! My Aunt Sisto and mom's good friend Carolyn had a shower for our friends and family to get together and celebrate Elaine. We also got lots of diapers and gift cards which is a HUGE blessing!
Elaine was pretty tired from her big day at church, but she managed to give a few smiles and coos to her audience.

Elizabeth was quite popular at the party as well!

Elaine's third cousin Taylor was also in attendance. He is about a month younger that Elaine and was not interested in chatting today. I am sure the day will soon come when these two get into lots of trouble together!

After a very long day, I insisted on a good pic of the girls together. After a crying battle with big sis (no nap today!), I managed to get a couple of good ones. Aren't their matching dresses precious? Thanks Nana!

Weekend O Fun

This past weekend was filled with lots of driving and lots of fun! Justin's parents rented a lakehouse at Lake Granbury, so we enjoyed a couple of days hanging out by the water. I was able to do some skiing, which I am paying for now- I am super sore, and Jenn, my sister in law mastered water skiing for the first time!
Elizabeth was not a fan of the boat; every time we asked her if she wanted to go in the boat, she responded with and emphatic "NO!" However, she did love her life jacket and have lots of fun playing silly games with Pop and being outside with Grammy. Thanks for a fun getaway Grammy and Pop!

Elaine also enjoyed being in her Grammy's arms; so much that we had to detox a bit on Monday:)

Mixed into the weekend, I had a chance to go to my sweet Amanda's lingerie shower and bachelorette party in Dallas! Amanda and I were roommates together in the Walton house while at A&M. She is so precious to me, and I am ecstatic that God has brought her and Kyle together! I can't wait to be a part of their special day; what a joy and an honor!

Then, on Saturday night, Justin accompanied me to a wedding of a lifelong friend, Lindsay, while Grammy and Pop kept the girls. I think the most fun part of weddings for me is seeing people I haven't seen in quite some time. At this particular wedding, there were a lot of people to catch up with, including my best friend since birth, Tressa, who I hadn't seen since October.

All in all, it was a great weekend, but it has been nice to be home and get the girls back to "normal," whatever that is!

1 Month Already!

It's true! Elaine Karis is a whole month old, plus a couple of days! I am having a tough time discerning what day she actually was a month old, because June doesn't have 31 days. It may seem silly, but it seems to be the little things that really get me flustered!

She is doing wonderfully and is more and more alert each day. We have moved her out of our room into her own room (makeshift until we move), and after she got used to it, I think she has really liked it. She is sleeping about 5 hours at a time at night and taking a couple of good naps through out the day. Hopefully in the next week or so we will have her schedule down. She is eating well, but Elaine is definitely a spitter! Thankfully we have bibs and burpies to catch most of it, and occasionally my shirt or pants! We had an encouraging visit to Dr. Scroggie on Tuesday, he said she is pretty perfect- we agree! Elaine is weighing 9 lbs 7 oz and is 21.5 inches long, right between the 50th and 75th percentile on both. Such a joy to watch her grow!

Hold Please!

So, Elizabeth has decided that holding Elaine is lots of fun... so precious, huh?

Catching Up

All is well in the Bassett house! Elaine is a great baby and is growing fast; she was 8 lbs 3 oz at her check up almost 2 weeks ago! She is sleeping about 5 hours at a time at night which is allowing me some good sleep. We have made outings to Church and the Library and lots of other fun places. She has decided she likes tummy time and a paci, which can be quite helpful in between feedings. She is focusing for much longer periods of time, and we are loving her cute little expressions!


Elizabeth is just over 21 months and is a bundle of fun! She seems to soak up all she hears and sees. She is a HUGE help with putting dirty clothes in the hamper, bringing me diaper supplies, and simply being her sweet self. Today she named all but a couple of letters with a matching word as she did her alphabet puzzle; we talk about letters when we see them in print, but I was still pretty surprised! The summer has brought with it lots of swimsuit wearing for Elizabeth, and she LOVES the water.


Thursday marked an exciting day for Justin and me! We closed on a house up in Keller. I haven't talked much about this, because we actually put our offer in over 3 months ago and weren't very confident we would get it. However, our patience paid off and we got a great deal on a house that needs some serious cosmetic work but is overall in good shape! Adding to the excitement is the fact that the house backs up to our friends Adam, Taber, and Addison-- Elizabeth can't wait to be so close to Addie. Last weekend, Justin and his parents and Adam did a ton of work on the yard and already gave the house a major face lift! I will try to keep pics coming as we make improvements. Here is the first of many before and after shots!

Not sure if you can tell just how awful the rock wall was... It was definitely a major eye sore for the neighborhood!

Just an idea of what is to come, but at least you can actually see the house!

Just a quick shout out to Nana and Grammy! With two little ones and buying a new house, we couldn't do it without all their help! Thanks be to God for fabulous family!

2 Weeks

Today marks 2 weeks since Lanie K has arrived, and we are settling into a routine. She is sleeping 4-5 hours at night between feedings, which gives me some great sleep! This week's big events included her umbilical cord falling off which led to her first real bath, her first CityView playgroup, and trips to Target and WalMart! It's amazing how great a trip to WalMart can be for a stir crazy Momma!