Alena is Baptized!

Here's Pastor Schoenherr sprinkling the water on our baby!Auntie Avery loves her niece!

The parents, pastor, and sponsors :)Brianna was happy to meet her new cousin!Such a pretty little girl!

Last weekend, we went up to Tomahawk to get Alena baptized in my home church! She was such a good little girl during the service and brunch (and extremely popular, too)! We are very thankful for the gift of life that the Lord has given to us and for all of His blessings! Our family is praying for Alena's heart that the seeds of faith are planted and sprouting!

Someone Is Spying On Us!

Yesterday, Alena was being pretty crabby. In an effort to give Mommy and Daddy a break, we put her in her swing. She surprisingly didn't whine too much, but I noticed that she was watching me. A few minutes later, I went into our kitchen and looked back to check on her. She had turned and was watching wherever I went. Later, when Eric came in, he took this photo to prove that we were being spied on! We think that she a smart little girl, but a stinker at the same time!

This pic was taken from our entryway which is halfway between where Alena is and the kitchen.

A close up of her peeper!

Our 3rd Anniversary!

It seems like it was just yesterday in some ways, but such a long time ago in other ways, but today is our 3rd anniversary! It is definitely different this year! I was woken up by a crying baby at 1am, 6am, & 7am (yes, I put her back to bed after feeding her at 6 or so). Not such a great way to start the day, but it reminded me of what kind of a legacy Eric and I will be leaving in Alena and any other children we are blessed with. Alena is a combination of Eric and I! It's so amazing what a work God can do!

We don't have any special plans for tonight. We're just watching our latest Netflix movie, Australia, while trying to keep the baby quiet. DVDs are so nice these days because we can pause and rewind what we missed or just plain couldn't hear. Maybe sometime soon Eric and I will be able to have a night to ourselves to celebrate.

We can't wait to see where the Lord leads us in the future and are asking him to deepen our relationship with each other today.

Samantha

Sam helping to open a gift at a baby shower.

Rolling over all cute!

The supervisor checking up on the painters in Alena's room.

Alena and Sami.

Last week was a very sad week (well, end of the week) for the Hawkins/Cance household. Our beloved dog of 13 or so years, Samantha, was put to sleep. We all knew that her time would be soon. She even lived for much longer than we had anticipated! She was diagnosed with a tumor on her shoulder in late fall. There was really not much that the vet could do. Surgery would just prolong the inevitable, so Mom decided to just make her comfortable with pain pills. The vet thought that she would live for 3 months, max.

She really started to go downhill as the month of April started. When we visited, I could visibly see her tumor for the first time. We think it spread to her lungs as she began to have breathing problems. She had a tough time eating, too. So, it was decided that it was her time to go :( She lived a good life and will be missed. Funny coincidence: we got her on Maundy Thursday and she died on Maundy Thursday!

The whole family thought it was cool that Alena got to meet her once before Sami died. Neither one of them seemed to care about each other, but they met nonetheless! Eric, Alena & I made last minute plans to go to Chippewa Falls that Thursday and stay in Tomahawk that night. We found out on our way there that Mom & Mitch were putting Sam down that day. It was great timing to have Alena as a joyful distraction for Mom after such a sad day! We'll miss her, but we all know that there are changes in life and this is one of them.

Alena's Travels

Visiting Great Grandpa Cance in Chippewa Falls

With Great Grandma Cance :)

Great Grandma Betty (Mitch's mom) in Tomahawk

Auntie Roxy and Miss Alena

Many Firsts!

Alena has been a busy little girl! At the end of March, she made her first road trip to Tomahawk with Mommy. She got to meet lots of her relatives and friends :) Last week she took her second road trip all the way to Chippewa Falls to meet Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Cance. Then went to Tomahawk overnight. She also had her first holiday, Easter. She made it (for the first time) all the way through the church service without getting whiny or crying! We were extremely thankful for that! All this and she's not even 6 weeks old! She seems older, though, especially since she is a chunker at almost 13 pounds. What we she be up to next?

Alena is growing!

Not that this would surprise any Mom! She doesn't seem to look as babyish as she used to and she's even smiling at people (when she's in the mood). Her hair is getting longer and she's just getting bigger. I'm really not sure how much she weighs since we don't have a scale and we're not going back to the Dr until the end of the month, but I'm sure she's at least 11 lbs!

Speaking of the Doctor, I was wondering what all you moms out there did about immunization shots. Alena's doctor assures me that the shots will not hurt her in any way and highly suggests that I get her immunized. I, however, am much more skeptical! I just don't trust that all of the ingredients are safe for my baby! I really don't know what we're going to do at this point. I want to do more research on these beforehand, for sure!