Milestones

***I wrote this two weeks ago and didn't post it for some reason so some of the things are old news!

It has been a busy few weeks here in the Lockhart household and lots has been happening. Soon after I posted last, Elizabeth finished kindergarten and we have been adjusting to a new normal around here.

At her class party all the kids received an award and she was chosen as a "Kind-hearted Kindergartner" for always having such a kind heart towards her classmates. That's what a momma wants to hear!

 With so much happening in May, Caleb and I took several breaks from school so we are still trying to finish everything we need to do. We will continue math and reading through the summer so we are just trying to get our science and history finished and the books we have been reading for the curriculum so that he can read some books of his choice. I have been doing some school with Elizabeth as well as she likes to do it along with Caleb. This week will be a break from school as Caleb is off to summer camp this week with our church. We are so proud of him that he wanted to go and I know he is going to have an amazing time. I, on the other hand, and already missing him terribly!

Ready to go! How is he already old enough to go to camp on his own?

That's what has been going on with the older two and then there is Joanna who is reaching milestones daily! Just this week she has rolled over, started cereal, and went swimming for the first time! Of all my kids she is the latest to roll over. She hasn't been that interested and mainly because she is so content to just hang out. The other morning I woke to her talking in her bed. Normally she is rooting around to nurse but this time was different because she was talking. I walked over to the bed and she was laying on her back chatting with herself (she sleeps on her stomach). She looked up at me and gave me a huge grin! The next day she rolled over for Heath both ways. She is not doing it consistently but that is only a matter of time.
I have been toying with when to feed her cereal for the last two weeks and over the last couple of days she has been stirring at 5 for some time before she goes back to sleep. I finally decided to go for it Saturday night. I have to say of all my children she loved it the most! It was like she discovered we had been holding back on her! By the third bite she was opening her mouth and grabbing the spoon to pull it in. She was actually frustrated when we didn't have any more!

Yum, Mommy!

 Yesterday we went to a friend's house and went swimming and put Joanna in the pool for the first time. She did great and even put up with Heath dunking her! She really enjoyed being in there but I am not surprised. For one, she is not fussy about much and two, all my kids are part fish! I will have to get her a new swimsuit though because the one she is wearing was Elizabeth's and it was the smallest one I could find. It is stretched out and she could barely keep it on her shoulders. That's fine...I don't think I will mind having to pick out a cute swimsuit for her!

This was coming up from being dunked!

This is typical Joanna...just chilling!

One of the other things we have had going on was that Derek and the kids came to visit. They had not met Joanna yet as the last time they had planned on coming, Derek got the shingles. We enjoyed having them here, short as it was and the kids couldn't get enough of her. The girls even had me do a fashion show with Joanna modeling clothes. It was quite cute!

From the left, my nephew Brice, my niece Ashlyn, and my other niece Avery is on the right.

Things have been great around here and I will try to keep the blog updated with summer fun.

4 months!

It is hard to believe that Joanna is 4 months today! She is growing up so fast! She loves to sit up and be a part of things. If you try to hold her in a reclining position her head is trying to pull her into an upright position. She hasn't mastered sitting up on her own but she is getting close. She is also pretty close to rolling over. She is about halfway and just needs the kick from her leg to pull her all the way. The other day I put her in her johnny jumper for the first time because she has such strong legs. She likes it because she can be up and seeing what is going on around her. I think this weekend I might pull down the exersaucer and clean it up as well. In honor of her 4 month birthday today and because family is asking for more pictures, I am including some of the latest of her.

Joanna loves Caleb. He was doing history on the floor next to her and she stared at him the whole time.

One day I laid her down on her mat and came back in a few minutes later and she had pushed herself over here.

She loves to sit in my lap and play with this mirror so I laid her where she could enjoy it on her own.

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One of her favorite spots is her bouncy seat. She loves to talk to her toys. Here she was also watching a Baby Einstein video.

First time in the johnny jumper

Her crib is in Elizabeth's room and last night when I was putting Elizabeth to bed I laid Joanna in her crib. This picture really shows how strong she is getting.

This weekend my brother and his family are finally able to come down and meet her. They are very excited as are we because we know they will be in love immediately!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy mother's day to all those reading this! Today I have reflected a lot on how the Lord has blessed me as a mother. I still have a hard time believing I am a mother of three amazing kids here on earth and our sweet Gabriel in heaven who has such a special place in my heart. I still think about him a lot. Especially recently he has been on my heart. I look at Joanna and I wonder, "Why her?" or "Why him?". Why did he have to die and she live? But then I think that if he hadn't gone home to Jesus I wouldn't have her. And then I have a moment of guilt for loving her so much. But then it passes because I know that it was God's plan for her to be here with us on earth and for Gabriel to bless our hearts for eternity but not physically here in our arms. I knew him for a such a short time within me but I will love and miss him until I am reunited with him in eternity.

I've thought about each one of my kids and how special they each are to me in their own individual ways. Caleb is my first baby and he will always be special to me for that. In the last year we have developed a special bond through homeschooling. He has become my little protector. It's like being home with me has made him realize how hard a job I have and he is the first to defend me when the need arises. We do just about everything together and I have enjoyed having him around. He adores little Joanna and she has already seemed to form a special connection with him. He has a sweet, gentle spirit and holds his relationship to the Lord close to him.

Elizabeth was my first little girl and she is growing up before my eyes. She loves school and her friends and thrives in that environment. She is full of imagination and loves to go off and get lost in a world that she creates be it with her dolls, her books, or the imaginary friends that surround her at that moment in time. She adores Joanna as well but I think struggles a little with drawing the line between doll and human! I think they will be close as Joanna gets a little older though. Heath and I see her falling a little into the typical middle child and we have been praying about how we can make her feel as special as she is to us in a better way. We will probably be homeschooling her in the fall and I look forward to the changes that will bring about in her.

Then there is Joanna. Even at only 3 months she is full of personality. She is a very happy baby only getting upset if she has been in the car seat too long or is ready for bed at night. She is full of smiles and I think she will take after her daddy as she loves to talk to you. She prefers to be sitting up where she can see everything going on and talk to people. She has definitely brought so much joy to our household!

It has been a great mother's day and I feel so blessed to be the mother of 3 amazing children!

Like brother, like sister!

We knew it could possibly happen soon as she has been trying to put her hands in her mouth for a while now. On Saturday it was official...

She found her thumb!
Much like this little guy found it around the same age...

Everybody thinks it is so cute and it is, until this little guy is 9 years old and can't stop himself from sucking it in his sleep! Most of the time he unconsciously puts it in his mouth and we have tried everything from nasty tasting ointments on his thumb to fabric covers he wears while he sleeps. Eventually he will stop for good but that will be about the time we start paying for all the dental work!
Caleb does like the fact though that his sister is following in his footsteps! And I like the fact that she no longer wakes me during the night because she comforts herself and puts herself back to sleep. For now she is happy and quite cute and I am getting a full night's sleep!

Joy!

Next to sleeping, Joanna's smiles light up our day! She is such a happy baby and when she smiles, her entire face lights up.

These were some of her first smiles caught on camera!

Not one of her big smiles but such a sweet face.

Talking to duckie!

This is her personality!

Sleeping Beauty!

So here is the first of my themes. I have always loved looking at sleeping babies so of course I love to take pictures of my sleeping babies!

One of Joanna's favorite places is her swing!

This is how her daddy sleeps, with his hands behind his head.

Another Daddy shot!

Heath has always liked to take naps with his babies!

Joanna loves to stick her face against the side of the swing and fall asleep. It soothes her when something touches her face.

This was one of her first naps in her crib.

A nap after getting a full belly.

I am definitely not sleeping beauty but she is!

The best part of the day!

One of the best things about her is how laid back she is. She was just hanging out with Grammy and decided it was time to sleep!

  So there are some pictures of Joanna. I will have more later!

Time Flies!

Ok, yes I have not blogged since the one entry I did for Joanna's birth but I have thought about it often. With a new baby, homeschooling a 9 year old, gymnastics competitions, teaching a college Sunday school class, and just the everyday tasks I have to keep up with, blogging just gets pushed to the end of the list. I am sure there are a long list of things I should be doing right now but I will at least do an entry of our Easter weekend. A friend has challenged herself to blog every weekday for the next 6 weeks and I am going to attempt to at least blog several times a week so that I can keep family and friends updated on the growth of our sweet Joanna. She has grown so much and she is such a doll that I need to be getting pictures and videos of her on here. I have so many pictures I want to include that I am going to do my posts in themes as opposed to trying to cover all that has been going on in the last 3 months. So the pictures will be a range of ages but that way you can see how she has grown and see her personality. Of course the other kids and their endeavors will be in there as well!

We had a great Easter weekend with my parents. My brother and his family was originally supposed to come down but he got shingles and we decided it was best to wait until everyone was healthy. We sure did miss them and are looking forward to seeing them soon. Friday my parents came in and we all went to see the Earth Day movie "African Cats". The cinematography was amazing! Saturday we had our neighbors over for dinner and an Easter egg hunt and then Sunday was church, brunch, and a relaxing day at home.

By the time we finished dinner and got the eggs hidden, it was almost dark so a few eggs were not found!

Easter Sunday at church

She is such a happy baby!

It was time for Joanna to eat but she fell asleep while she was waiting for me to finish lunch.

There was a little egg hunt for the kids that stayed for the brunch after church.

We are so blessed!

We truly enjoyed the weekend celebrating our risen Savior! We had a great time with friends and family and worship was full of the spirit. My parents left today and we are back to the grind. Caleb is working on math and Joanna just finished a nap and is ready to eat. My work never ends! But I wouldn't trade it!