Sisters

It's hard to put into words how thrilling it is to have two little girls that are SISTERS.

I always wanted a sister! (it's ok, mom :) (and sorry, Drew)

and understand that they hold special places in each other's hearts.

 I can't wait to watch these sisters grow, play, giggle,

and love on each other!

And of course, teach one another.

I have a feeling that each girl will have a lot to teach,

and a lot to learn from one another. My hope is that they can remain

as patient and loving toward one another as they are right now, because

it sure does fill Bub the hub's and my heart with JOY. Here's hoping!

Six Months

For the sixth time, a whole month has completely whipped on by and our youngest lovebug is officially HALF A YEAR old. And I must say she keeps getting funner and funner. Can I say that? Well, she does. The babbling and the giggling, the bouncing and scooting, it's all so amazing to watch this little munchkin grow up.

We went to the pediatrician last week and got her stats. She is totally all over the board: 24% weight, 57% height and 68% in head size. Although I assure you she just looks like a regular little baby, not like she will topple over at any moment ha! See this girl grow:

She is wearing 3-6 months clothes now, but still a little bit too small for the full 6 month stuff. Her schedule is like most babies- Eat, Play, Sleep, Repeat...except she still repeats about 3, sometimes 4 times a day! Seriously, she still naps a lot. They vary from 30 minutes to 2 hours, and I basically almost never know which one it's going to be. I hope we can move to something more consistent soon. But the super good news is that she has given up another night time bottle and now we only have one left!! It's anywhere from 3-6am, but at this rate it will be a goner at 7 months, right?...or that's what I keep telling myself.

Some fun six month Maddie Brynn facts:

<--• She is sitting like a real pro now! And scooting backwards on the hardwood floors, but not pushing up onto all fours yet...

• She's a real babbler-- lots of da-da's and na-na's and ba-ba's, but only a very rare ma-ma

• Still no teeth but tons of drool. gallons.

• All the sudden she's all about her tongue, and sticking it out at us. --->

and blowing tons of raspberries and trying to talk with her tongue out too :)

• Plays so much better in the car now with a lot less fussing

• I just love how social she is. Unlike her sister at this age, she enjoys being held by other people, which makes it a lot easier on this momma!

<--• Likes to play with toys and probably loves the musical toy and giraffe teether that her Aunt Ali got her the best

• She is still very serious about her food. She gobbles her bottles down really fast and eats two meals of baby food a day now...and actually get super sad when it's all gone (I'm talking tears!). We've tried applesauce, bananas, prunes, squash, sweet potatoes, peas, and pears and she's loved them all, but probably peas the very most.-->

• Has discovered tags recently...which is good because we have lots of "taggies" toys for her to play with, but she goes for the tags on everything else too

<--• Still wants to read her fav book ("Bubbles, Bubbles") every single day

• The spit-up has gotten a lot better but we still go through quite a few bibs a day

• Has a wonderful, gentle, kind big sister that even lets her play on the iPAD with her :) -->

• Such a struggle lately to change her diaper because she's so busy stuffing her feet in her mouth, or wiggling like a squirmy worm

• She loves to be outside, just like her sister, and I can't wait until she can play on the playground

<--• I love walking into her room in the morning or after a nap and seeing this bright, gorgeous smile! it makes my day!!

Keep growing sweet Maddie Brynn :)

Raising a Reader

I've mentioned this before, but I reaaaaaaaaally want the girls to love reading as much as I did, and still do. I think it's really important and feel lucky that little Maddie Brynn already seems to be on her way...

look! it's my favorite book

hey momma, wanna read with me?

I like this page

cookie monster makes me laugh :)

I remember when Avery first learned to turn the pages of the books we read her every night before she went to sleep-- such a thrill! And how she giggled and loved to "lift the flap." I can't wait to do all the same things with Baby Bub. She's already shaping up!

Avery is Four

Last Monday, my miracle child turned four. I don't know if it's even completely sunk in. She is just SO OLD. And how did four years go by in the blink of an eye? I still don't know. Since you know I can't resist, here's my girl through the years:

        Avery Brand New                          Avery 6 months

Avery's 1st Bday                             Avery 18 months

Avery's 2nd Bday                      Avery 2&half

 Avery's 3rd Bday                 Avery 3&half 

We kept it very low key this year, spending time with family and doing activities that we knew she enjoyed, as opposed to a big party where we she could easily be overwhelmed. I think she most enjoyed the swinging...



and having cake for every meal of the day! ha! Here is the special heart cake I made for my four year old sweetheart-

I think she liked it!

Bub the hub and I have gone through about every emotion there is in the last couple of weeks. We are so thankful she is here with us, but still can't help but wish that her journey could have been a different one. It's hard not to imagine all the future challenges that still lay ahead. We wish we could take them all away, and give her a break for once! We know that's not in the cards, but it doesn't mean we don't hold out hope that she will have a future filled with all the things that she deserves. And much, much more. 

Mommy and Daddy love you so much Avery. You have taught us so much. You are PERFECT in our eyes. You are our everything.

Listen to the mustn'ts

by Shel Silverstein

Listen to the MUSTN'TS, child,

Listen to the DON'TS

Listen to the SHOULDN'TS,

The IMPOSSIBLES, the WON'TS

Listen to the NEVER HAVES

Then listen close to me--

ANYTHING can happen, child,

Anything can be.

Five Months

This past month in the life of our precious Baby Bub has definitely been the most exciting so far. SO much to tell. Here she is in all her five month glory.

If you are wondering about this silly face, she was blowing raspberries
at her daddy and me the entire time we were taking her picture....
but at least this one is a raspberry/smile, yes?

Five months is not a pediatrician appointment month, so we do not have an exact weight and height. But I did put her on a commercial scale for fun the other day and it said 14.5 lbs, which sounds about right (of course, it also said I weigh about 30lbs less then my normal weight, but whatevs). Her little legs definitely look longer, although this cannot be officially confirmed yet. She is still in size 2 diapers and finally fitting well into her 3-6 month clothes. Her hair is still strawberry blonde and has gotten a little thicker. The big news is that she is sleeping wayyyy better.

Right before she turned 5 months, Bub the hub and I decided it was time for Maddie Brynn to start sleeping in her crib at night. This was tough for me because I really love having her in our bed and getting to cuddle. But I also know that I am being a wee bit selfish and we need to promote good sleeping habits and get her used to her own room. She had been doing well with taking naps in her crib lately, so we decided to go for it...and of course, the first night was a huge FAIL. Maddie Brynn 1, parents 0. However, by the second and third night, letting her cry it out lasted less than 10 minutes, and within the week she was going down earlier and earlier and lasting much longer between bottles. Now we are at the point where she goes down between 7:45-8:30pm and will usually wake up for bottles around 1am and 4-5am, then sleep in until it's time to take Avery to school. I call this success!

Now before this post gets totally out of control long, I am going to have to revert to bullet points:

• Like I mentioned last week, she has started rolling a lot more, especially onto her elbows. Also loves climbing us, and even scoots on her tummy, but usually only when she's really mad ha!

<--• We just got out the Jumparoo, and she was pretty intrigued (and a little too short : ). But as with her swing right now, she wants us to stay and play with her. She doesn't understand that this is not. the. point.

 • In December she started making little shrieks and now she's a full out screamer. We'd all be annoyed except it's so darn cute.

 • She enjoys holding -->

her bottle. Sometimes I can even put her in her car seat and get a few chores done while she does it all by herself!

• Working on sitting but mostly wants to stand
• When she gets really excited, she stomps. So precious.
• She LOOOVES when we read her books. I am so thrilled. Her favorite right now is "Bubbles, Bubbles" with the Sesame Street characters. We read it about 5 times in a row, everytime.

• Started to notice she is developing some seperation anxiety this past month, boo!

<--• Still not happy about being strapped in the car seat, but playing more with toys in the car and is all smiles when we are actually shopping

• Super duper ticklish! also enjoys tummy raspberries- of course, we are happy to oblige
• She's completely mesmerized whenever we are eating something and always reaches out to try and snag some...cracks us up.

• Equally mesmorized by her big sister. Just stares up at her with those big baby blues. <3

• Still loves the mirror and makes the biggest smiles at herself...ditto with the bath!-->
• Has 30-40 minute naps through out the day, unless of course Nana comes over and holds her all day and then she sleeps for, like, hours and hours at a time.

<--• We started rice cereal and baby food and it didn't take her long to start eating it more than spitting it out :)

• She's completely content for me to hold her on my hip as I am going around the house doing chores and things. My back is not loving this!

•Always wants to be where the action is

• She has the most amazing and bright smile --> 
and it makes my heart so happy. She has a big dimple in her right cheek and another smaller one in her left cheek that hid at first--we just it noticed this month! Bub the hub and I each have one dimple in different cheeks, so obviously she got one from each of us :).
• She's drooling like crazy and wants to gum everything, but no teeth yet (I'm constantly checking)
• Loves to be outside, especially at the park where she can watch her big sister swing
•Yes, I am still dressing her up as much as I can!

This post is only one week late, wahoo! I'm totally getting better. I'm also a lot better at taking care of the girls together, and it only took me five months....not bad right?