Working up the Food Chain

Bubbles is a food enthusiast. She is always on the look out for a bite or ten from the nearest food source she can find. I have discovered that she does have a preference on whose food rates highest on the food chain though.

Bubbles will eat from her plate, but she'd rather ask KB for a bite. If Mama has food, Bubs prefers that over KB and her own. But Papa reigns supreme. Apparently Papa's plate and cup hold the gold standard of food and drink. It doesn't matter if everybody is dished the exact same stuff, to Bubbles there is a big difference in taste.

This morning, Bubbles wanted a drink of water. She saw Papa's water and immediately asked for Papa's water. I had my water in hand and offered that, but she refused stating she wanted Papa's water. I have since discovered that KB is the same. She loves anything that is Papas.

The Papa label is a powerful tool that I try to not overuse... Those are Papa's eggs... That's Papa's meat.... Oh Papa loves those...  So I have some work to do on toning it down. haha

Wind and Pregnancy

One of my odd pregnancy things is neck sensitivity. My neck is super ultra sensitive during pregnancy and anything that touches it brings on gagging. Hair, clothes, hands, air; it's all awful. And yes, totally weird. In some cases the gagging turns into full blown throwing up. It's gross.

Putting on clothes is a dreaded daily task. Taking them off is even worse. Taking a shower.... Oy. Long hair? The worst. I pixie-cut my hair last pregnancy to see if that would help tone down the sensitivity. It helped, but I hated the style so much I vowed to never do that again.

Air has been a source of particularly soreness with me. Any type of breeze that floats past my neck is super hard on my gag reflex. A/C in the car? Love the coolness, can't have it on me. Ceiling fan? Nope. Wind outside? No way. It's a constant battle since there is always some type of air flow going on.

The place we currently live is a rather windy spot. It's been a bit of frustration since we got here and I am hoping our new place next month is not so wind inclined. Anyway. Almost every day Mr. Llama asks me if I went outside and almost every time I say no it was too windy. The girls go out, but I stay inside and watch and listen for them. Mr. Llama is convinced that my "too windy" is just a slight breeze. It might be, but with my neck it feels like a huge gust. Today the national weather service issued a wind advisory for gusts up to 40 mph for our area...... I feel validated.

Water Intake

Our girls have always been great water drinkers. I've noticed recently some more ways to increase their water intake though.

Have a tea party. Use tiny cups and endless refills of the teapot. The thrill of filling and refilling those tiny cups has them consuming more than their share of water in no time. Plus they love having tea parties. No food required.

Teach them to "cheers." I'm not even sure where my girls picked up the "cheers" (clinking glasses and saying "cheers!"), but they think it is great fun. And they drink a lot more water during a meal if they "cheers" than if they don't.

Most days I struggle to drink my minimum water intake..... Guess I better join the tea party and "cheers" movement to increase my water intake as well.

Waiting for Baby

The girls are very excited to welcome the new baby into the family.... I keep telling them we have to wait until baby gets bigger in Mama's tummy, but that doesn't stop them from pretending their baby has arrived. Almost every day is a play adventure of taking care of their tiny new baby sister.... Even though we don't know yet if we are actually having a boy or girl. They are convinced its a girl.... Another month and we will see if they are right.

I'm glad they are excited. I am trying to be.. it's hard when every day is a struggle with nausea, low energy, gagging at every little thing, and so on. I don't do pregnancy well and this one has proved to be the hardest.

The girls play together so well which makes me feeling ill a little easier.... Most days I don't have to run interference and they just play and play and play. They love to read books together, play babies, dance and sing songs, go on all sorts of travel adventures, and lots more. They will snuggle on the couch and watch a show, do each other's hair, try on shoes, run around, and put on plays for each other. I love how much they love each other. I know that this little baby will be so loved and snuggled by their sisters.

And that makes my couch bound days a little easier to bear.

The Unknown

We are approaching the unknown. We have to move out of our rental at the end of the month and thus far have not secured any housing... certainly not from lack of effort. The housing market up here just stinks. 

It's been tough. It's been frustrating. It's been depressing. It's been awful. 

Finding the positive has not been easy or that attainable with all the goings on of our lives these past couple months. 

I know that my family is strong and we will survive... maybe barely with lots of scars, but we will make it through these unknowns thrust upon us.... somehow. 

Egg Race

I don't know if I should encourage the sisterly competition in the girls or not.... Some days it does make life easier though.

The girls ate all my scrambled eggs and sausage for breakfast yesterday... after eating their oatmeal and insisting they didn't want eggs. Today I decided to make sausage and eggs for them. They wouldn't touch them. Not one bite. Not one nibble. Nothing. Then I suggested that little C could eat one bite more than KB. KB took that challenge and ate all her eggs. Little C ate almost all her eggs in an effort to best her sister. Mission accomplished.

I felt a twinge of guilt that I had started a race to eat eggs, but the satisfaction of them eating breakfast far outweighed the twinge.

Christmas 2015 Letter

Merry Christmas 2015 from the Llama Family!

~ Papa, Mama, Bear, and Bubbles ~

Have a very merry Christmas! Scatter gladness ev'rywhere! Sing the carols of the Christ child: Let your neighbors know you care. Have a most exciting Christmas! Ring a bell and trim a tree; Stuff a stocking for a loved one; Hang the holly joyously. Have a happy fam'ly Christmas! Gather all your loved ones near; Talk about the baby Jesus; Wrap your hearts in love this year.

 (Children's Songbook pg 51)

2015 was a year of activity. We played in the snow, jumped in mud puddles, went for walks, floated boats down streams, explored mountainsides, had campfire lunches, played at the park, went on adventures through the thrift stores, read lots of stories at story-time, discovered new libraries in the county, waded in rivers, had blanket tea parties, blew bubbles everywhere, and many other adventures that come with having young children.

Our sweet bear turned 5 in March and with it came all the hard decisions of what to do about school in the fall. Since we didn't live in town it was going to be a 10 hr day for our girl. We decided to enrolled in Connections Academy  instead which is public school at home. KB has a teacher online and I help her complete her lessons at home.

Bubbles took her first year of life to learn how to crawl, eat new foods, walk, run, babble, talk, sprout some teeth, and grow into every outfit we had. Our little Bubbles is very little... we kept hoping for a growth spurt and finally got one after her first birthday! The girl grew two inches in a month! She is still very petite, but growing more each day.

This year, the girls and I ended up doing some traveling. First trip was in May when we were able to go all over Oregon to see family and friends. Then again in December we made a short surprise visit to attend a wedding. Unfortunately Papa couldn't join us for our travels (work and all that). We sure missed having him with us. Traveling is nice, but being home with our family unit is what we love best.

In October we found a rental home that would work for us. We moved in November.  While we appreciated the sawmill life for being available for a time, we are very excited to have our own space once more. The yard is a huge bonus and makes KB's day every time she goes out.  Our mailing address will remain the same for now.

At the end of last year, we had made our health a priority. Combined we discarded 125+ lbs. Papa has taken another step and joined the local Crossfit gym. He works long hours at work and then makes it to the gym 3-4 nights a week.  I am so proud of him for all his hard work and dedication.

As we close out 2015, we are thankful for our family, friends, and most of all, our Savior! Singing carols of the Christ Child brings such joy and peace into our home. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas! Gather your loved ones near! Talk about the baby Jesus! God Bless!

Love, Papa, Mama, Bear, and Bubbles