Oh, how she grows!

 This baby girl is growing like a weed... a very cute weed. At her 2 month check up (Oct 31st - actually a bit over 2 months) she was weighing in at 13lbs 11 oz and was already 2 ft tall! She is smiling up a storm, but doesn't like to smile for the camera yet, in fact as soon as the camera comes out, she stops smiling. So, it's sometimes hard to share how smiley she is. It might also have something to do with when the camera comes out, her brother jumps right in and climbs all over me, and her trying to "help" her smile. She also giggles! It's so much fun to see all the new development that occurs in such a short period of time. She loves to be talked to, and will talk back, carrying on a conversation of gaaahs, goos and coos. She has such a soft and beautiful voice. Generally she is a pretty happy and calm baby. She truly is a joy to have in our family. We are loving this little girl!

Fun in Charlotte

Last week, the boys had a day off from school, so we took a day trip about a 100 miles north to visit Charlotte, NC.  We had a long, fun day of doing everything we wanted to and were blessed with a special experience to end the day.  Dacia had never been to The Cheesecake Factory, so we set the GPS and had a fun lunch there with gigantic salads and an amazing raspberry lemon cheesecake. 

After lunch, we wandered around a West Elm furniture store.  Dacia had been looking a couple sofas for months and liked what their catalog showed.  After looking around and playing in the store, we found a style we liked so much that we got two of the same.  With luck, the store had two on hand and they both fit into the back of the truck perfectly snug without being taken out of their shipping boxes.  

Joseph having breakfast in bed

Playing in a nearby park while mom fed Elliana in the truck

More park fun

We enjoyed being in a big(ger) city for the day and enjoying the things we don't have at home like parks and Costco.  Joseph gained a vision of heaven when he walked into a Lego store.

We saw a billboard for a 7-eleven convenience store and ended the day hunting for a Slurpee.

Slurpees!  Notice the two boxes in the back of the truck...

  After about 30 minutes of highway driving back to Columbia, Devin noticed there was only one box in the truck!  Dacia had Tanner say a prayer that nobody got hurt when it fell out of the truck and that we would be able to find the box.  We took the next exit and thought of all the places in the city we made tight turns that would have been enough to jostle the box loose.  We made the drive back to the 7-eleven without seeing anything.  Even if we did find the box, surely the sofa wouldn't have survived the fall from the truck or a crash with on-coming traffic.  All the way back to the freeway we didn't see any signs of a lonely box and we got back on highway 77 thinking someone found a nice couch.  After about 20 minutes on the highway, Dacia saw a box on the side of the road!  We got out to find our couch resting far to the side of the shoulder with only a corner bent.  After lifting it back into the truck and tying it down this time, we realized that one side of the box opened up and the wind picked up the box like a parachute.  When we got back in the truck Tanner suggested that we say another prayer thanking Heavenly Father for helping us find the box again.  It was well past midnight when we got home, but we felt gratitude that our Father heard a prayer of his children and blessed our family with another faith-building experience.  And just maybe there was a little angel that had her hand in things. 

We tore a hole in the back of the box so the air could escape and the box would survive the ride home. 

 

Joseph's Broken Leg

Less than a week after Elliana was born, our neighbors threw a wonderful birthday for all of their children.  They are the kind of people that ask for stuffed animals to donate to the children's hospital in lieu of gifts. The kids were entertained with balloon animals, magicians, food, and a very fun bounce-slide.  The kids would climb up one side of the inflatable slide and bounce/slide down the other.  Just before we were about to leave, Tanner carried Joseph to me crying loudly.  After a day of him not putting any weight on his leg and taking long naps, we decided to take him to the doctor.

The brave boy awaiting the doc

The x-ray didn't show a break, but Joseph would twitch when the doctor touched his shin in one place.  He was trying to be strong and not show he was in pain.  What a tough boy.  Turned out that he had what they call a "toddler break" and would need a three-week cast.

Joseph's new friend James prepping his leg.

After some thought, Joseph chose his cast to be in bright orange.  He chose it because it is his favorite color.  However, in these parts, the University of South Carolina's rival is Clemson.  Clemson's color is orange.  He doesn't understand why people keep asking him if he is a Clemson fan.  His older brothers know the difference and would have never chosen orange. 

Mom gets to sign the cast first

Dad asked Joseph for a "sad face" for effect. 

Other than not going to the swimming pool, the cast hasn't slowed him down at all. He had to find a way to bend over to kiss his baby sister, but he runs around just fine (with a limp like dad used to).  Casts don't prevent him from turning a lamp shade into a helmet and a lamp into a weapon. 

Three weeks after the cast went on, it was time to come off.  Unlike his father and sister, he enjoyed the saw cutting off his cast.  Although his nerves are now hyper-sensitive and he walks a little funny, he is back to being Joseph and reminding us so much of his sister who showed him how to be a 3 year old. 

The saw that cut off his cast "tickled".

The brave boy getting a clear x-ray.

Elliana's Blessing

Isn't she lovely
Isn't she wonderful



Dacia's induction was scheduled for August 21, so at 7am we arrived at Lexington Hospital and by 2:15pm, we welcomed Baby Girl Shumate into our family.  She was our biggest baby, weighing 8 lbs 12 oz - the same as her mother.  Just before we left the hospital two days later, we decided to name her Elliana Leigh.  We thought "Elliana" is a very pretty name and means something like "answer to our prayers".  Any similarities to her older sister's name is completely coincidental and absolutely welcomed.  Devin suggested that she take her mother's name for her middle and we decided on Dacia's middle name of Leigh (pronounced "lay", not "lee" as would be the southern pronounciation of this spelling). 
Two days later, Dacia's mother joined us and helped us maintain a house of order while mom rested and tended to our baby.  She stayed for almost two weeks and worked very hard from morning till night.  She even tried to adjust to the eastern time zone, which is not always an easy thing to do.  As Grandma Heather was going to be here for the first Sunday in September, we chose to have her blessed that day. 

 

Elliana's aunt, Dani, made the blessing dress out of some remnants from Dacia's wedding dress and luckily it arrived in only two days from Hawaii.  Otherwise, we would have had to postpone the blessing.  It is sad that she will wear this beautiful dress just one time.





 

She has been a great baby.  She sleeps despite the noise in the house or Joseph's insistance that "she needs more smooches".  We have been asked if Elliana looks like Ella.  So far, it looks like she will have similar blue eyes and she does have a resemblance.  See for yourself:

 

Big sister Ella at six weeks in her blessing dress (also made by aunt Dani)



Elliana at one week







 It is interesting that three years ago, we thought our family was complete.  But then a year ago we started feeling that that wasn't the case.  Again, we see that when we turn ourselves over to the Lord, he makes our lives more beautiful and joyous than we can on our own. 

Yes, there is a baby head under that bow


All of the above photos were taken by our friend, Naomi Jennings, who took some amazing photos as a gift to our family.  Obviously she has a talent. 



Our Summer part 4

We loved spending so much time with family while we were visiting Washington. 

 

 

 Joseph spent a lot of time holding and kissing baby Lucia,
practicing for when his baby sister arrives.

Funny uncle Matt

 There's always a lot of laughing and smiling when 

these girls and boys are together. NEVER a dull moment.

One of the highlights was definitely going to Great Wolf Lodge with Devin's family. The boys enjoyed spending every waking moment running around the water park with their cousins.

 Everyone loves the splash zone. The Grandparents might 

have been tricked into the splash zone once or twice.

 Taking a quick picture break between stair climbing, 

water slides and the wave pool

 The boys love these girls. They all get along so well and had so much fun together over the 2 weeks we were in Washington. It was great to end their Western Washington stay at Great Wolf. We were sad to say goodbye, as they headed back home to Spokane.

 Grandma & Grandpa with their grand kids

It was a great adventure and one we are sure to do again. 

Thanks everyone for the fun memories!

Our Summer part 3 - Good Ol' Seattle

Next on our itinerary, was a trip a little up north to Seattle. Some of our favorite places are in Seattle, and it's a fun place to walk around and sight see. Our first stop, Uwajimaya, a large Asian market stocked full of great Japanese food and treats. We were heading to the Mariner's game next, so we wanted to grab some delicious sushi to eat at the game.

 Here are a few native species to Washington, and yes, that ugly thing called a Geoduck (pronounced gooey-duck) really is edible (they're in the clam family) I would often see ships unloading these early in the morning when I worked in downtown Tacoma. Although I haven't ever tried them, I have heard they're delicious.

This man was so nice and really entertained the boys for awhile. Other than the chance to choose their own sushi platter for lunch and look at real Japanese Pokemon cards, this was their favorite part of Uwajimaya.

 

 Lots of fresh local seafood!

 Next stop... Safeco Field to watch the Mariner's Game

The boys were excited to spend time with their cousins

 

 After the game, we took a stroll on the Seattle
waterfront downtown. There are many unique
things (and people) to see along the way

 Seattle's newest attraction, the "Great Wheel"
sits at the end of pier 57

 Mt Rainier is something I miss seeing everyday

 Ferris Wheel, Century Link Field, Safeco Field and Mt Rainier

I love a lot of the architecture and old vines growing on buildings. It was beautiful Washington summer day. I don't think we could have asked for a better day to spend in Seattle.