{Everly 5/6 Month Update}

Evie is now 6 months old – and while it is crazy she has been with us for 6 months already, I also kind of feel like she has been with us since the beginning.  However, she is getting so big on us WAY too quickly!

So at six months –

*She can sit up all by herself…she started this trick maybe 2 weeks ago and every day she lasts a
little longer before she topples over face first to the ground, but always has a big grin.  It is very clear she is proud of this new trick.

*She gets up on her knees and rocks...I am sure she will be crawling in no time!

*She rolls, and rolls, and rolls.  And then rolls a little bit more. 
 

*She will “walk” if you stand up and hold her by her hands...Again, very proud of this new trick.  Loves to do it.

*She giggles…at Anna…at the dogs...if you make a fishy face at her…if you giggle…if she sees Mickey Mouse on TV…pretty much at EVERYTHING….she is so happy!!!  I love that when she looks at you and you smile, she smiles…love that she recognizes us and immediately feels safe when she knows we are near.

*I think she said “Mum” the other day….I could be totally crazy (which Bob would confirm in a heartbeat that I totally am), but I went to pick her up at my moms and she was in the exersaucer.  I got down on my knees by her to give her a kiss and she laughed and said “Mum” – coincidence?  Probably, but I will take it!!!

*I have basically totally given up on feeding her pureed food.  She loves her highchair – loves to sit in it and suck on a cold wash cloth, loves to play with her toys in it, loves to watch us do things in the kitchen while she is in it, loves to watch us eat….but absolutely hates when I offer her pureed food from a spoon.  Just the other day I offered her the gerber wagon wheels and rice puffs that more or less melt in their mouths and she is in love.  She loves to gum them and play with them and instantly knew how to pick it up and bring it to her mouth, so I am going to wait until her appt next week and see what else the Dr says we can give her from the table.  Anna, on the other hand, is totally digging eating the pureed baby food J

*She is a good sleeper…takes a quicker morning nap around 1-2 hours after she gets up in the morning.  I feel bad for her, because she often has to take that nap in her carseat when we are out and about.  Her and Anna normally (but certainly not always) take a good afternoon nap at the same time around 2-4.  Then some nights, she may go back down around 6ish for a quick cat nap and then is down typically by 8 for the night and sleeps until 6:30 or so as of late and we are lovin’ it!

*Spends about 95% of her time…awake or asleep…on her belly…which makes diaper changes darn right nearly impossible...

*Loves her bath and loves water

*As she has never taken a pacifier we have always wondered if she would attach to something that she would use to soothe herself.  Turns out she has – she is majorly in love with the Aden and Anais swaddle blankets and clings to them when she is sleepy.  She actually sucks on it put herself to sleep.  It is nice because we have a few of them so I can put one in the washer and give her a clean one when I need to and we can always buy more if necessary, although at $32 for a four pack, it’s a pretty pricey pacifier!   I do love them though, because they are so lightweight, it doesn’t make me nervous to put her to bed with it. 

She is one of the coolest little girls I know, so easy going, with a go with the flow, happy go lucky attitude - we absolutely love you to pieces little girl…thanks for bringing so much happiness to our world!  Happy six months!!! 

xoxo
Mom and Dad

 

{Our Big Girl Anna!}

She did it!!!  After trying on and off, I think it is finally safe to say Anna is potty trained during the day.  She still gets a diaper for naps and bedtime, but it looks like we are good to do during the day.  Anna showed interest in using the toilet early on, well over a year ago, however it never really turned into anything.  Being pregnant with Everly and knowing the big adjustment it would be on Anna, we just didn’t push it.  The last thing I wanted to happen was to think we had trained her and then she reverted back once the Everly arrived.  Then like a month or so ago, she asked to wear panties so we tried to start again, but after multiple accidents it was clear it just hadn’t clicked yet.

Then, two weeks ago Friday, we were at my parents for dinner.  She had a very wet diaper and was wearing a dress and we were outside.  I took her diaper off and let her go free for awhile.  To be honest, I totally forgot to put a diaper back on her.  Well, a little while later she came to me and said she had to go potty, so we did…and then a little while later she said it again, and we did.  That night I would say she came to us 5 different times and said she had to go, we would take her, and she did.  It was clear it had clicked!!!  (This would so happen too, because earlier that day I had gone to Target and bought 2 92 count boxes of diapers for her!)  So from then on, every morning when she gets up we take her diaper off, take her to the potty and put on panties.  We had a few accidents early on, but they are fewer and farther in between.  I was so proud of her the other night; we went downtown to watch the fireworks and before going up to my dad’s office we walked around for a little bit so I put a diaper on her, not being sure where the closest available bathroom would be if she had to go.  I totally forgot about it and then 2 hours later, we were up at my dad’s office and she said she had to go potty so my mom took her….AND HER DIAPER WAS DRY!  Way to go Annas!  We are all so proud of you!  You have very quickly gone from a little toddler to one beautiful little girl - lots of love and kisses Anna!!!

 

 

{Anna's Surgery}

In the beginning of April, Anna finally had surgery to unlock her thumb.  Sometime around a year old we noticed that Anna’s right thumb was locked in position.  I mentioned it to her pediatrician and he agreed it looked like trigger finger so we set up an appointment with a specialist to get it checked out.  We were sent to Dr. Cullen at the Hand to Shoulder Center in Appleton and I highly recommend him – he did a great job and was wonderful with Anna – quite the patient doctor J  I am very happy the surgery is behind us and even happier to report everything went great and a weeks later Anna had her follow up with Dr. Cullen and was determined to be just as good as new, with a brand new working thumb.  Anna did great for the surgery and was quite a brave little girl.  When we went in for her pre-op appointment, I will admit I started to get a little nervous about the whole thing as she tried to climb up my chest and then down my back when the doctor tried to listen to her heart.  We got to the hospital the day of her surgery pretty early in the morning and got Anna settled in.  After meeting with Dr. Cullen, the anesthesiologist and the nurse that would be with her the whole time, they gave her some medicine to mellow her out, which was by far one of the funniest things I have ever seen.  By that time Anna was so out of it, I don’t even think she realized what was happening and they wheeled her back to administer the anesthesia and perform the surgery.  While I was most nervous to see them put Anna under, I had no idea her coming out of the anesthesia would be the worst part.  She woke up pretty scared, screaming, crying, kicking, biting and trying to rip out her IV and take off her bandage.  After an hour of trying to console her, we packed up and tried to head home.  Once in the car, Anna was successful at ripping off the bandage so we had to go back to get it reapplied.  Turns out our little Anna is quite the fighter J  It ended up that her getting it off was the best thing she could have done, once she saw the wound, she was more than happy to put the bandage back on the never let it bother her once the entire time she had to wear it, which ended up being about a week.  Overall I am so happy the ordeal is over with, while her reason to have surgery wasn’t too big of a deal, it is never fun to watch your little one go through something like that.  And we were only more reminded of how lucky we are, as there are some very sick kids in the world, whose families go through surgeries and hospital stays on a daily basis.  Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers are with all those families and kiddos who suffer each day from illness.

 

Brave Little Girl

 

 

Patiently Waiting

One very tired little girl fell asleep on the way home eating a cracker

 

Hehe...one very drugged out little girl :)

 

{Everly 4 Month Update}

Well, I have officially done it.  I have tried so hard to not let it happen, but it happened.  I officially have, "now that we have a second child, I take no pictures and cant keep up a baby book for thing 2" syndrome.  While I knew it was going to happen eventually I think I was living in denial for the first three months of Miss Evie's life - I catch myself making comments to myself like -

"So what if I haven't started her baby book, she is only a few months old" or "I will blog next month" or "It's no big deal, I don't think I started Anna's scrapbook until she was like 6 months old" (not true), and my favorite - "I am SURE I will have time to start it this summer" (also so not true!).

The reality is I really haven't started a baby book of Evie yet and we really don't have as many pictures of her as Anna, and lord knows when I will get to that scrapbook, but we sure are lucky to have two beautiful girls and while our world is really crazy right now, I wouldn't trade it for anything, I just really do hope Everly will forgive us someday for the lack of pics:).  And I do think I will get around to it all and I do really try to take more pictures and write down as much as I can.  It really is crazy how wrapped up we can get on our day to day life, I find I often have to remind myself to stop, take a deep breath, and enjoy the moments that are flying by ever so fast.

Everly will be 5 months on Friday, so I suppose this update should be more like her 4/5 month update, but I am going to stick with 4 months and try to remember where she was at then.  She is doing absolutely fantastic.  A few weeks ago, Everly and I flew out east for Michele's baby shower with my mom and Liz and she did great traveling.  She is still very easy and go with the flow.  She is very alert, active and strong.  She started rolling to her tummy around 3 months and now rolls both directions.  She started rolling in her sleep a few weeks ago, so we did away with the swaddle and now sleeps swaddle free on her tummy.  And we never know what position we will find her in when she wakes up.  Unfortunately for us, right around the four month mark she started waking up again around 4 every morning.  She goes back down until 7ish or so, but we cant seem to break her of this yet.  She often goes down for the night around 7, so it is understandable that by 4 am she is super hungry.  It would just be easier on mom and dad if she could stay up a little later at night and sleep in a later in the morning, or if we could go to bed at 7 too :)  We will cut her some slack though, because she is just 5 months and pretty stinking cute :)

She is a pretty good eater when she wants to eat, but can be tricky to give her a bottle and will cry like heck if she doesn't want it.  She also doesn't tolerate her face being touched.  If I need to wipe her nose or face, she just cries, which is kind of strange given how laid back she is in all other areas.  We have started giving her solids.  So far she has tried rice cereal, sweet potatoes and apples.  She does OK with it, but isn't very impressed with it either.  She still does absolutely LOVE her bath, whenever she is fussy, which isn't often, but if she is a bath always cheers her right up.  Another thing I have noticed, there are times when she might be scolding or fussing, but as soon as Anna comes up to her, she cheers right up, laughs, giggles, and smiles.  I absolutely LOVE to see that happen.  Melts my heart.  I love that I can say I have never seen Anna irritated or annoyed by Everly or the attention we have to give her and that we can tell Everly already adores Anna.  They are already the best of friends and we cannot wait to watch that friendship grow!

Happy Little Girl

Can't get that finger out of my mouth

"I think I will roll over now"

"Much better"

{Evie 3 Month Update}

A little late but nonetheless I thought I would share Evie's three month update.  At three months Evie is doing absolutely fantastic and certainly keeps us on our toes!  She has quite the happy and easy going personality.  She absolutely loves to talk to just about anyone who will listen to her babble, and is very alert and loves to be in the middle of any conversation that is taking place.  She is also quite active, for the past month, Evie has been very content just laying on the floor on her back kicking and cooing.  Then, about two weeks ago she actually rolled from her back to her stomach, I figured it had to be a fluke, but she has worked at it ever since and now very easily can roll onto her tummy from her back and it takes little to no effort for her to do so...it is so fun to see her learn these new tricks and grow, but it makes me so sad given how fast it is all going! 

Evie is doing great as far as sleeping, she sleeps through the night until 4:30 or 5:00 am, wakes for a quick bite to eat and goes back down until 7 or 8 - no complaints here :)  She is also growing like a weed, already into 6 month clothes as she is much too long for 3 month clothes anymore. 

I feel like we have really started to settle into a good routine, some days seem to be more overwhelming then others, but whenever I start to feel overwhelmed I take a deep breath and remind myself that these crazy days will pass and I certainly will miss the kiddos being so young. 

The past two weeks we have had the stomach flu come and go from our house and I am really really hoping the worst is past us.  So far Evie hasn't gotten it and my fingers are crossed she won't.  Anna had it this past weekend but has seemed to bounced back fairly quickly.  She started a new swim class through daycare today and seems to be very excited about it.  She very excitedly told me about how she swam all by herself today (with floaties).  It is very exciting stuff :)

Unfortunately, Anna has to have her surgery to fix her thumb on Thursday and I am so dreading the whole ordeal.  I know she will be fine and it really isn't that big of a deal, but am not looking forward to her being put under, can't wait until it's over:)  Below are some pics of Evie in her cute Easter attire for her 3 month photos....and two videos of the girls...Enjoy:)

 

 

{Everly's 2 Month Update}

It's been two months since Everly arrived!  How it is possible she is already 2 months old, I will never know.  We are certainly treasuring and savoring every little cuddle, coo, and smiley face with Evie as we know from experience just how fast they grow and it won't be long before we start looking back at pictures and say, "I just don't remember her being that small." 

At 2 months old, Evie is doing fantastic, she is such an awesome baby, I can't stop saying if we were guaranteed to have another baby as easy as this I would do it again in a heartbeat.  She is a very content and happy little girl, flashes her fabulous grin more and more each day and is starting to be very content to play on her playmate or enjoy her swing a little more each day.  She is sleeping pretty well too.  We have yet to establish a good nap routine, but I am sure that will come in time.  I honestly can't remember how we did it with Anna or if it naturally happened on its own, but I have faith it will come together soon.  As far as her nightly routine, Evie still loves her bath and goes down each night somewhere between 9 and 10 and sleeps until 2 or 3.  She gets up for 1 feeding and goes back down until 6 or 7 each morning.  Our only complaint is that she is the S.L.O.W.E.S.T eater ever.  But she rarely seems to have an upset belly and all systems seem to be working just fine, so in my opinion, the slower the better:)  She goes in for her 2 month appointment on March 5 and I will update with her stats then.  I think she gets her first round of shots as well, so not looking forward to that!

Anna still loves to help with Evie, although I have noticed her interest in the "chores" ("Anna, can you throw this diaper in the garbage for mommy?") seems to have diminished, but she loves to kiss and play with her.  Anna is obsessed with Doc McStuffins, which she cutely refers to as "Doc McDolphins", and her favorite toy to play with is her Doc McStuffins doctor kit we gave her for Valentines Day.  On a side note, that thing was impossible to get my hands on, I had no idea this show was such a hit with the preschool crowd, anyway, Anna loves to "fix" Everly with every chance she gets, which is absolutely adorable until she tries to jam the medicine thing down her throat and then it is time to put it away. 

I go back to work on March 12 and I cannot believe where the time as gone.  Our days seem to fly by and yet most times it doesn't seem like we do anything exciting.  I know Bob can't wait for me to go back so our pocketbook gets a rest, but seriously what else can you do in the dead of winter with two little ones?  I am so loving my time at home with the girls.  Anna goes to school on Tuesday and Thursdays and while I certainly miss her while she is away, I love that I get to spend special one on one time with Evie.  I am also enjoying the extra time with my mom and Elizabeth, we are so lucky to have awesome supportive family so close. 

Below are more of Evie's 2 month pictures -

February was a busy month for us as Elizabeth and Brett got married Feburary 16th.  We all had a blast at the wedding.  It was so fun to be apart of it and I am so thankful that they included us to be a part of their special day.  I was a bridesmaid and Anna was a flower girl.  I am sad to share that Anna never made it down the isle..it was a long day for her and I don't think she was feeling the greatest.  By 2:00 in the afternoon, she had had enough and wasn't interested in going down the isle, but she did great at the rehersal and made up for it with her dancing shoes at the reception later on:)  Overall it was a beautiful wedding and day and we all had fun celebrating all weekend long as a family.  I want to wish a big congratulations to Liz and Brett and hope they are enjoying their honeymoon in Disney!  It sure beats our winter weather, so jealous! 

 

{Sisterly Love}

Last week I caught some sisterly love on camera that I thought I would share - love these two!!!