My two year old.

I have a two year old.  I can hardly believe it.  She is just the sweetest funnest little girl, and I am so thankful for her.

She officially turned two on Saturday, and we had a party!  Our whole fam was sick last year on her birthday with the puke bug, so we had to cancel her party, and I guess we just can't catch a break cause she was sick with a cold this year!  But the show went on!  Nothing was going to stop me from having a party this year. 

We invited all our family, and the neighbor kids, and it was so fun.  Let me just say though, I had no idea how expensive parties can be, and I think we went pretty darn cheap!  That stuff just adds up quick! 

I decorated with pink things, and white tissue paper balls, and had it all set up for her when she got up the morning of her birthday.  My parents drove up the night before, and had some errands to run the morning of her party and of course they had to take her with them.  She was almost late for her own party... :)

I made kid friendly food- pigs in a blanket, turkey and cheese plate, fruit plate, goldfish, a popcorn bar, and cake balls.  The popcorn bar wasn't as big of a hit as I hoped, but it was a fun idea.  :)

She had so much fun with all of her favorite people there.  She got so excited each time the doorbell rang.  She didn't quite understand the gifts- but she loved it nonetheless.  Among the favorites were a princess tent (which permanantly resides in our living room), a Minnie Mouse cell phone, and a Mrs. Potato head. 

*Official update:

She weighed 24lbs exactly- putting her at 16% which is DOUBLE what she was at 18mo!  Way to go Blakely!  Can't remember exact height but I think it was in the 40something %.

She goes to bed around 7:30, and gets up at 5:30 pretty consistently.  We've tried just about everything to change this- and nothing works.  Any suggestions???

She takes a nap around noon- lasting anywhere from an hour to two and a half hours (VERRRRY occasionally 3...)

She sleeps with a blanket, but the times we've tried a pillow it seems to disturb her more than anything.  Still using a pacifier, less and less attached to her "buddies" (stuffed animals)- though she randomly requests them to sleep with. 

We are officially off the bottle!  PHEW.  We went out of town and stayed in a hotel Monday-Wednesday and got to hang out with kids and play a TON, so we took that opportunity to ditch the bottle since she was out of her routine.  She asks for it in the mornings, and was pretty ticked the first day, but now she asks, we say no, then she gets over it quickly.  She has even drank quite a bit of milk out of a cup the last few days!  Miracle!  Now if we could just get rid of the binky and move her to a real bed....  (both of those things are on our short list.  hopefully both will be in play by the end of January!)

She has adjusted REALLY well to traveling.  She will sleep pretty much anywhere without a fight- nighttime and naps.  She even has slept WITH us a few times!  It's pretty fun snuggling with her in bed, but she is sortof a bed hog. 

She is talking all the time and SOOOO well.  It's crazy to me how well she communicates.  She says 5+ word sentences.  She can sing the ABCs, Jesus loves me, and the Veggie Tales theme song.  She has quite the imagination too.  She loves to play pretend with her babies. 

She is making some pretty significant progress with the potty.  She goes in her little potty daily, but is still in diapers most of the time.  This is pretty much just me not wanting to go ALL OUT and just do it.  She wears "underwear" occasionally and still hasn't quite gotten the peepee thing, so she usually starts in her pants, then finishes on the potty.  :)  She can go #2 on the potty, but still kinda prefers the diaper- we are working on this.  :) 

She is eating better- more and more of a variety.  The only green veggie she will really eat is still broccoli. 

I thought she had a very bold personality, but after being around several other kids this past week- her age and a little older- I realized she is a little more reserved than I thought.  She is not very loud compared to other kids, and she is a go with the flow kinda girl.  She is up for whatever they are playing- but she is also fine to play by herself.  I think Hankie has really helped in the sharing department, and I am thankful for that. 

She wears 2t clothes mainly for length, and I put her in some 3t tops just cause.  She wears size 6 shoes, but they are snug thanks to a recent growth spurt, and has a pair of 7s, and I think she will probably be in an 8 by the spring.  I cannot for the life of me find pants that will stay up (besides leggings) and she doesn't have a prayer when she is out of diapers- since that's the only thing keeping most of her britches up. 

She still LOVES LOVES LOVES Henry, and I just couldn't be prouder of what a good big sister she is.  On her own initiative, she gives him his binky when he's fussy, plays with him, offers him toys, talks to him and makes him laugh.  I can't wait for him to be mobile so they can really be buds. 

 

Can't believe my baby girl is 2.  It goes too fast. 

6 months and Thanksgiving

A couple weeks ago Henry turned 6 months old.  It was hard to believe it when Blakely turned 6 months old...but at the same time, I remember time draaaaagging by most days.  With Henry, it truly has FLOWN by, and it is just crazy that he is 6 months old.  So many things that Blakely was doing at 6 months seem crazy for Henry to be doing. 

Like eating- Blakely had started eating solid foods, and we have experimented a little with Henry, but he is just not ready.  Blakely was sitting up at 6mo, and Henry is getting close, but he isn't totally there yet.  Some days I think he's sitting up, then other days he can't stay up for 2 seconds.  Blakely started sleeping all night around 6months, and Henry doesn't seem to be close to that either.  Granted- I tried MUCH harder with Blakely.  He sleeps with me (which isn't helping his middle of the night snacks...) and I just never try to hold him off.  It was pure torcher to get up and feed Blakely at night, and for some reason it just doesn't bother me with Henry.  In principle, I know I should be trying to get him to go all night without eating, but I just really don't care, and I enjoy it anyway. 

He is still spitting up quite a bit, and seems to have tummy/reflux issues, so we took him to the doc for a quick weight check to make sure he was still gaining since he hadn't been eating well for a couple of weeks.  He weighed 17lbs 5oz.  It is like 45% or something around there.  I can't remember how long he is but it's around the same percentile.  :)  He's gone down in percentile, which shocks me cause he just feels huge to me!  He is healthy though, and he is starting to move a lot, so that's what I'm attributing his slow down to. 

He is grabbing things, talking LOTS- saying "bababa", and "blahblah"  which is kinda funny.  :)  He is starting to sit up.  Some days he does awesome and can sit up like a pro, and some days he can't do it to save his life and just topples over.  He started rolling over from back to tummy today, and oddly enough, seems to have forgotten how to roll over from tummy to back.  It's very inconvenient since he keeps rolling to his tummy, but then hates being on his tummy and can't roll back.  Silly goof. 

He had a pretty bad set-back on naps last week at Stephen's parents.  He wasn't a great napper to begin with, and he was TERRIBLE there.  So this week my goal is to get closer to a predictable schedule.  Stephen keeps saying we need to do cry-it-out, but I am just not interested yet.  I know it is probably necessary, but I just can't yet.  Blakely doesn't exactly help naptimes with her screaming, banging, and impromptu bursts into his room.  :)  For the record, he takes 3-4 naps a day ranging from 20 minutes to an hour (more if I lay down with him.)  I put him in the swing some still, but I am trying to phase that out. 

He is wearing 9-12mo clothes, and even wears 12-18mo sweatpants.  Even though he isn't high in percentile he is F-A-T.  :)  I LOVE it though.  He's so soft and squishy and has the biggest/cutest booty you've ever seen. 

He is still the happiest baby ever.  He smiles and laughs ALL the time.  He's also a momma's boy.  Which I love.  Although he is super happy, he is slow to warm up to others.  He gets upset if I am not around.  He has what his grandaddy refers to as a "slow-burn."  So even when he does get upset, you've got a pretty good while before he totally loses it.  With a few exceptions.... loud noises, particularly screaming.  Which is inconvenient considering his big sister is a bit of a screamer.  He also got screamed at a few times over thanksgiving by cousin Lucy- and he just burst into tears.  He's gonna have to man up a bit before the next time we see Lulu.  And on that note, we have a couple of bossy, opinionated, screamers between the two girls in the family (Blakely and Lucy...). 

Thanksgiving was so fun.  We flew to Memphis- and somehow got lucky enough to each have an empty seat next to us.  They don't let you have two lap babies in the same row, so we had to sit in different rows, so having a seat next to us made it SO nice, and nice for whoever would have had to sit next to us.  I gotta give my kids credit though, they did AWESOME.  I can't even believe how good they did.  No fits, no crying at all.  People even commented on how well both of them were doing on the plane.  I held my breath knowing that at any minute it could change- and luckily, there and back, it didn't!

On to the pictures...sorry for picture overload.  My father in law is pretty handy with a camera and he only took about 500 pictues (literally) over the week. 

twinkies with D-dad!

sweet Henry. 

attempt at grandkid christmas pic...probably the best shot...

best sib pic.

DIVA

this is my child

taking a bath with cousin Lucy was BY FAR the funnest thing B did all week!  She even helped "wash" Lucy's hair!

pure joy

oops!

 

So apprently I hit post without actually finishing it last time.  I also didn't really finish my thought.  It seems like I finished mid story or something.  But who knows what was next in my mind at the time.  oops!  Sorry for no pictures...I'm always a little disappointed, no matter how interesting, when I read a blog with no pictures!  So this one is going to be picture overload.  :)  And for the record, I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to strategically place these pictures- which is REALLY hard to do...only to discover that it gets all messed up anyway when you add captions.  ugh.  Sorry it's jumbled!


 It's official.  Our kids look like him. 

 Blakely INSISTED she be in the carrier.  Sleepy baby.  And fun at the pumpkin patch!

 

Snuggle time with my babes. 

 

Making bread with Pawpaw.  He is so patient with her!  Also taking her to lunch....no she did not eat that chicken fried steak sandwich.  :)

Buds. 

 This boy doesn't get enough credit.  He's the happiest little guy!  He started sitting up today!

 

GiGi bought Blakely a play house- endless fun!  I am sad to say the dark blurry one is our ONLY picture from Halloween.  ooops. 

 

first fire of the season!  We love cold morning fires!





There are no words. 



 

too close...

my babies. 

  

And lastly, the two babies from whom the other babies came.  :)  circa 2004. 



 



5 months, halloween, and life

Well, sorry for being MIA!  It's crazy around here.  My kids keep getting bigger, my house keeps getting dirtier, and life keeps going.  Here are some highlights from the past month or so:

Henry turned 5 months old:
- he is talking ALL the time
- he is FAT
- he started eating cereal
- he is in size 3 diapers- same as his BIG sister
- still not napping great but a little better
- goes to bed around 6:30-7, gets up around 6 since time change
- sleeps with me most of the night.  ooops. 
- loves his jumper
- wearing 9month clothes
- nurses every 3-4 hours and still once or twice at night
- sucks his thumb
- loves to snuggle
- laughs ALL the time
- only poops every few days (tmi, I know...)


Blakely is talking SO much.  I know I said this last time, but her communication just amazes me.  I won't bore you with the details.  But a few key phrases are "I hold you", "I help you", "I do it self!" She loves to ask you if you want something and she tilts her head to the side and her voice goes really high and she'll say "coffee, mommy?"  :) She has also recently had a growth spurt.  Most pants that fit her are WAY too short, and her shoes that I bought a month ago are getting snug.  oops. 

Blakely was a princess/ballerina for Halloween.  Basically I put a pink tutu on her and called it her costume.  :)  She didn't really get the whole trick or treating thing, and I didn't bother telling her.  She also didn't catch on to the candy obsession, and I didn't enlighten her about that either.  In fact, we got quite a bit of candy and ended up giving it all away a couple days ago cause Stephen and I lost all self control. 

We've recently discovered that she loves Christmas decorations as much as her momma.  She LOVED browsing all the decor that they now have in the stores.  We watched Elf the other day- and I was impressed with how well she paid attention to a non- cartoon movie.  Her favorite part was the cameo appearance of an elmo doll...

Her bossy little personality is coming through.  I shouldn't say bossy, cause I hated it when my parents called me bossy (including last week...) She is strong willed, and concerned.  :)  She does tell people what to do, but she also takes care of them.  When someone falls she asks them if they are ok.  She loves to share (most of the time) and is very helpful with younger kids.  Oddly enough, she also has a bit of a shy bone.  Before she is comfortable with kids or adults she is super quiet and just watches what's happening. 

4months

Henry is 4 months old! He weighs 16lbs- unfortunately we know this because he has been to the doctor/ER 4 times in the last two weeks!

He went 8 days without pooping so our doc sent us to the ER to make sure there wasn't an obstruction. There wasn't and we are all good now!

Henry is in 6-9 month clothes, size 3 diapers, and he is CHUBBY!

He is such a happy baby. He smiles alllll the time.

He isn't a great napper- but I don't let it stress me out. He starts out on our bed an usually ends up in the swig. He goes to bed around 6:30 or 7, and eats usually twice at night. I haven't really tried to make him wait cause its just easier to feed him. He sleeps with us most nights after 3am, and we don't mind. :) I never would have guessed we'd let our kids sleep with us, but we love it and we wish Blakely would sleep with us! One day he won't- and I know I'll miss it. He's the snuggliest little guy ever. :)

He nurses every 3 hours and goes down for a nap an hour to two hours after. He doesn't sleep well after 3pm so he's usually a little fussy from then until he goes to bed.

He loves baths, Blakely, daddy, attention, giggling (alllll the time), tv, and sucking his thumb- the cutest thing ever. He still takes a pacifier but always sleeps better when he can find his thumb instead. Sometimes he just goes to town on it chomping away and it's hilarious.

He'd like to get up for the day around 6 or 6:30 but I try pretty hard to keep him asleep until after 7.

He's the sweetest little guy ever and we are so glad our "easy" baby came second. :)